Pirates of the Caribbean
by AlbusSeverusPotter7
Summary: Captain Jack Sparrow, along with Charlotte Vaughan, Elizabeth Swann and William Turner round up the most fearsome pirates sailing the seven seas to help them make their final stand against Davy Jones, Lord Beckett and the East India Trading Company. Will they be able to take back their freedom? And whose life will be lost in the battle? (CotBP, DMC, and AWE together)
1. Chapter 1

It was unusually foggy that night, but that didn't bother Elizabeth. Having lived in England her entire life (which was only a mere nine years), rain and fog wasn't all that new to her. Since her mother's passing when she was young, Elizabeth had only her father, Governor Swann, who had been moved to serve as the Governor of Port Royal in the Carribean. She had been unwilling to go so far from all she knew, but after she had read about the history of the Caribbean, and more importantly the Pirates that sailed the seas there, she became rather intrigued.

She hadn't many women who were of the same status as herself with which to surround her with, and thus she'd become slightly prone to what many called, "unwomanly tendencies" which involved copious amounts of self-education, battle strategies, and a slight disregard for activities that were designed specifically for women. The only thought that kept her on deck during this mire was the chance- although it was quite a long shot- of meeting a pirate.

She stood near the bow and looked out as they sailed, singing softly. ".. We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me 'earties yo ho! We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me. We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack, Drink up-!" Elizabeth jumped as she felt a hand claps her shoulder. Looking up slightly, she saw Mr. Gibbs looking down at her with suspicion.

"Quiet missy," he whispered-yelled as he scanned the waters around him. "Cursed pirates sail these waters. You don't want to bring them down on us, now, do ya?" he continued.

Just then, Norrington bore down on the pair, "Mr Gibbs" he said loudly, "that will do!" He walked over to the pair and looked out onto the sea.

Gibbs turned toward him, "She was singing about pirates. Bad luck to be singing about pirates with us mired in this unnatural fog. Mark my words." He turned back to the sea and peered through the fog, as though he knew exactly what was out there.

Elizabeth looked up at him, slightly amused. There was something odd about Gibbs, sure enough. He didn't look like a regular merchant sailor, nor was he a member of the King's Court. If Elizabeth didn't know any better, she would have suspected him of being affiliated in some way with pirates.

Norrington looked over at Gibbs, trying his hardest not to smirk, but failing miserably. "Consider them marked. On your way.

Gibbs hobbled off, but not before Elizabeth could see him reaching into his breast pocket for a small pouch, no doubted filled with some sort of drink. "Aye Lieutenant. It's bad luck to have a woman on board, too . . . even a miniature one" He hobbled off towards the mast.

Elizabeth looked between Norrington and Mr. Gibbs, " I think it'd be rather exciting to meet a pirate."

Norrington suppressed a scoff, "Think again, Miss Swan. Vile and dissolute creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves- a short stop and a sudden stop."

Elizabeth, confused, looked past Norrington at Mr. Gibbs who grabbed one of the necklaces around his neck and mimed a hanging, lolling his tongue. She looked shocked and turned back to Norrington, about to say something when her father appeared on the deck. "Lieutentant Norrington, I appreciate your fervor, but I'm, uh, I'm concerned about the effect this subject will have upon my daughter."

Norrington unwillingly responded, "My apologies, Governor Swann." He headed down the stairs, towards the helm.

"Actually, I find it all fascinating," said Elizabeth, as her father stood next to her.

He looked down her, his face filled with worry, "Yes. That's what concerns me."

Elizabeth wandered along the starboard side of the ship, looking into the distance, before she noticed a parasol floating atop the water. Smiling, she watched it as it floated alongside the ship, She turned towards where the parasol came from and saw a piece of wreckage, and lying atop it was a boy, no older than herself. She quickly turned towards the other crewmembers, "Look! A boy! There's a boy in the water!"

Immediately, Norrington looked out onto the water, where Elizabeth was pointing. "Man overboard! Man the ropes. Fetch a hook! Haul him aboard!"

After a few tense moments, the boy was pulled aboard. "He's still breathing.

Gibbs sniffed, smelling something oddly like smoke mixed with the moisture of the rain. He turned around and saw the wreckage of a burning ship. "Mary, Mother of God!" he exclaimed. Everyone followed his lien of sight out to the water and gasped. Elizabeth looked over the railing and suppressed her shock

"What happened here?" said Governor Swann, looking slightly weary.

"It's most likely the powder magazine. Merchant vessels run heavily armed," Norrington said over the mutters of the crew, although he didn't seem overly confident in his answer.

Gibbs looked at him, "A lot of good it did them." He paused and looked at the other crewmembers, which looked hesitant. "Everyone's thinking it. I'm just saying it. Pirates."

Governor Swann turned to Mr. Gibbs, "There's no proof of that. It was probably an accident," he said, trying to calm both himself and his daughter down.

Norrington ignored this, "Rouse the captain immediately! Heave to and take in sail. Launch the boats."

A sailor in the back yelled, "Heave to!" and the crewmen scurried atop the deck towards the longboats.

Governor Swann looked over at Elizabeth and guided her towards the unconscious boy, "Elizabeth I want you to accompany the boy. He'll be in your charge. Take care of him."

Elizabeth nodded and walked over towards the young boy, moving his hair out of the way. Suddenly he awoke, causing her to jump. He grabbed her wrist. Calming down, she responded, "It's ok. My name's Elizabeth Swann."

The boy drew several deep breaths before responding, "Wi-Will Turner."

"I'm watching over you, Will" she replied. Before Will could say anything, he passed out. Elizabeth looked closely and saw a piece of gold on a chain next to him. She picked it up and examined it. A skull was etched into the centre, surrounded by a series of symbols. "You're a p-pirate," she whispered.

"Has he said anything?" Norrigton asked, looking at the boy and then back to Elizabeth. Governor Swann looked at the boy with sadness.

Elizabeth quickly turned around, keeping the medallion hidden behind her back. "His name is William Turner. That's all I found out."

Norrington nodded to the pair of sailors by his side, "Take him below," he ordered.

Elizabeth moved towards the railing of the ship and waited until the deck was devoid of crewmates. She snuck a glance at the medallion, holding it up to her eye. As she looked up, she saw it. A black ship, that looked as though it had been burnt then resurrected. Black sails hung from the mast in tatters, and embroidered upon the largest and highest one was a skull with two crossed swords beneath it. She quickly closed her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth awoke and found herself in her room, tucked in bed but the darkness still surrounded her. She paused for a moment before pushing the sheets off of her, and grabbing the oil lamp on her bedside. She headed towards her bureau and opened one of the drawers. She emptied it of the few books she had, and stuck her hand in the drawer, pressing the latch that opened up the false bottom. In the drawer, covered in ten year's worth of dust was the medallion. She picked it up, and examined it closely, wiping it clean.

Slowly she undid the clasp at the back and placed it around her neck, the cold metal resting on her chest. Just then, there was a knock at the door, and she scurried over towards her bed, knocking over a chair in the process.

"Elizabeth," came her father's voice from behind the closed door, "Are you alright? Are you decent?"

She quickly hid the medallion in the bodice of her nightgown and tightened the robe around her, "Yes, yes!"

The door opened and her father entered along with three of the maids, who began to open up the curtains and allow (what Elizabeth thought) was way too much sunlight into the room. "Still abed at this hour? It's a beautiful day.

Elizabeth took a glance outside and silently agreed.

"I have a gift for you," her father added, holding up a large box for her.

Elizabeth opened it and picked the dress out of the box, "Oh, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"Isn't it?" her father replied, knowingly.

She turned around, smirking. "May I inquire as to the occasion?" she asked, knowing full well that there was definitely a catch to this gift.

"Does a father need an occasion to dote upon his daughter?" Governor Swann replied, feigning outrage. "Go on," he said to the maids, as they took Elizabeth behind the screen. "Actually, I, um . . . I had hoped you might wear it for the ceremony today."

Elizabeth was confused, "the ceremony?" she asked as the maids helped her change.

Governor Swann looked out of the window, "Captain Norrington's promotion ceremony."

Elizabeth stuck her head out from behind the curtain, hoping to catch a glance of her father's face. "I knew it!"

"Commodore Norrington, as he's about to become," he father continued. Elizabeth suddenly found herself unable to breathe, and looked behind her as one of the maid's tightened her corset. She was about to tell the maid to loosen it, but her thoughts were interrupted by her father's next statement. "A fine gentlemen, don't you think?" Elizabeth was about to give an answer when her father rendered her breathless (which thankfully helped her in this scenario). "He fancies you, you know. Elizabeth? How's it coming?"

She managed to reply, "it's difficult to say," she said, as the maid tightened the corset further.

"I'm told it's the latest fashion in London," said her father, with a hint of pride that he's made the right choice in dress.

"Well, women in London must have learned not to breathe," she replied ironically, as they pulled the dress over her head.

"My lord, you have a visitor," said one of the other servants. Her father quickly left the room and left her to continue getting dressed.

William Turner was hovering in the foyer of the Governor's house, waiting to deliver the Governor's daughter. He turned around and began to examine a sconce on the wall. Just as he touched it, the gilded steel and gold came off in his hand. He quickly dropped it into the vase next to him, burying it in the umbrellas and canes as one of the servants came by.

The Governor headed down the stairs and greeted Will. "Ah, Mr. Turner, good to see you again."

Will smiled, "Good day sir, I have your order." He opened the case he'd been carrying and produced a sword, which he passed to the Governor.

Governor Swann unsheathed it, "Well."

"The blade is folded steel. That's gold filigree laid into the handle," he explained. "If I may?" he asked, taking the sword as the Governor passed it to him. He balanced the sword on his finger, "Perfectly balance. The tang is nearly the full width of the blade," he flipped the sword and presented it gracefully to the Governor once more.

"Impressive," Governor Swann said, sheathing the sword once more. "Very Impressive. Ah, now, Commodore Norrington is going to be very pleased with this. Do pass my compliments on to you Master. Hmm?"

Will's face fell slightly as he replaced the sword in it's box. "I shall. A craftsman is always pleased to hear his work is appreciated."

"Oh, Elizabeth, you look absolutely stunning," said the Governor looking up at the staircase.

Will followed his eyes, and his breath caught in his throat.

Elizabeth was standing atop the stairs in a beautiful gown, her hair primed and a hat placed atop it. Fanning herself gently, she quickly descended the stairs in her excitement to see Will. "Will! It's so good to see you. I had a dream about you last night," she said.

Will smiled, "About me?" he asked, nervously.

Governor Swann coughed, "Yes, well, is that entirely proper for you to….?"

Elizabeth ignored her father and continued, "About the day we met, do you remember?"

"How could I forget Miss Swan," Will replied, smiling internally.

Elizabeth huffed, "Will, how many times must I ask you to call me Elizabeth?" she asked, hoping that he's finally ignore her father's presence.

"At least once more, Miss Swann, as always" he replied, nodding slightly towards her father, and inclining his head towards the pair.

Governor Swann patted Will on the back, "There. See? At least the boy has a sense of propriety. Now, we really must be going." He passed Elizabeth a parasol, "There you are."

"Good day, Mr. Turner," she replied icily, staring him down.

"Come along," said Governor Swann, steering his daughter towards the door and into the carriage that was waiting for them.

Will followed them out, "Good day" he replied to them as they left the house. Trailing after them he muttered, "Elizabeth."

Will was heading back to the blacksmith's shop when he heard a voice calling him.

"Will!"

He turned around and sure enough there was Charlotte heading towards him, also dressed head to toe in fine clothing.

While she was also a part of the upper class, she wasn't related to the Governor, or any of the king's men. Rather, she was related to Cutler Beckett. Will had never met Beckett, but from what he'd heard, the man was a piece of work. Some, like Charlotte, often likened him to the Devil himself. The pair were siblings, but the age difference between the two along with the passing of their parents meant that she was in the charge of Beckett. He chose to leave her on the island of Port Royal when she was a child with a caretaker (who had also passed). Rather than be associated with the brother that abandoned her, Charlotte took her mother's maiden name as her own; Vaughan. Charlotte now took care of herself, with occasional help from the Governor and Elizabeth. Charlotte and Elizabeth had gotten along the moment that the latter arrived in Port Royal. Elizabeth was limited in her choice of playmates, and Charlotte was the only person who fit the description in terms of status. But because Charlotte had no one to tell her what to do, she was often found in Will's company as well. Charlotte was the reason that Will and Elizabeth were able to maintain their friendship in the eye of the public. She was their best friend, but Will considered her more as a sister than simply as a friend. She was also well rounded when it came to sword fighting. She was the only person who'd ever bested Will, but this was unbeknown to everyone in Port Royal, as it was not seen proper for a lady to engage in such a sport.

He turned around and headed towards her, "You look quite beautiful today," he said, looking at her dress. Charlotte was one of the few women in Port Royal who had raven coloured locks, that –when in the sun- changed through various colours such as purple and blue. Her startling green eyes, unusually bright red lips, and tanned skin equally matched this. Will had always thought she was pretty, but in a more harsh way, while Elizabeth reminded him of a goddess with sun kissed golden locks, and soft, beautiful features. "Aren't you supposed to be at the fort?" he asked, pointing behind her at the large crowd of royals and members of the East India Trading Company that were heading up the winding road.

Charlotte glanced behind her, "they can wait. You are much more important." They walked around and trailed behind the others who were heading to the fort. "Did Swann like the sword you made?" she asked.

Will smirked, "Yes, he took a shine to it immediately. But he was under the assumption that Brown made it, not I."

"That is when you should have corrected him," Charlotte replied, fanning herself gently.

Will shrugged, "Didn't have the time. And anyways, Elizabeth arrived at that moment, so I was slightly distracted."

Charlotte smirked. She'd known ever since they were children that Will was smitten with Elizabeth. While she'd never seen Elizabeth reciprocate those feelings exactly, she would often find herself being harassed by Elizabeth concerning his whereabouts and friends. "That is quite bold, Mr. Turner," she said, taking the mickey out of him.

Will laughed, "when it is over, let me know how the ceremony knows, and whether Norrington likes the sword," he turned around and headed back to the blacksmiths, knowing Brown would be having a fit if he showed up late.

"I'll be sure to ask," she replied sarcastically, turning around and heading back to the fort. She walked alone, as she preferred to do. Charlotte was not all too keen on being "proper" and "ladylike." Since she'd seen what the price of class and rules had done to her brother, and thus had stopped associating herself with him. She hadn't seen him in over ten years, and he had never bothered to keep in touch with her. She had sent him several letters, but stopped around the age of ten, realizing she could send him a tree, and the wind wouldn't carry the whisper of her name from his lips. The money that Beckett had left her with was extremely large, and the result of her family's fortune. She's surmised that her brother was now making enough that he no longer needed to be associated with the family, or her.

She finally reached the fort, and quickly found Elizabeth, who was fanning herself quickly, while also wearing a look of pain. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Elizabeth shushed her, and nodded to the procession, which had just begun. "Two paces march! Right about face! Present Arms!" Norrington appeared between the arches of the fort and walked through the procession. He unsheathed the sword when the Governor presented it to him.

Charlotte chanced a glance at Elizabeth, who was growing paler and paler by the moment. _Oh dear,_ she thought as she looked at Elizabeth's dress. She was wearing a corset.

Jack had never been so glad to see port, even if it was the base of the East India Trading Company. He looked down and noticed the boat filling up with water. Sighing, he quickly jumped down from the mast of his boat and began to bail it out. Just as he was doing so, he looked up and noticed three skeletons hanging in the wind. Squinting he read the sign next to them, "Pirates ye be warned." He quickly pulled off his hat and placed it over his head, paying homage, just as his father had taught him to.

He looked back down and noticed the water steadily reentering his boat, and his shoes. "Every time," he muttered, before looking ahead at the docks. He smiled as he pulled himself back onto the mast of his boat, allowing it to sink.

All around him, merchants and dockworkers stopped and stared. Jack allowed the boat to sink, such that when he reached the dock itself, he simply stepped off of the mast and onto the dock, throwing the rope onto one of the last remaining hooks.

He walked past the harbourmaster, praying he wouldn't say anything. As his luck would have it, the harbourmaster quickly caught up to him. "What- hey. Hold up, there, you." Jack turned around and pointed to himself, and the harbourmaster nodded. "It's a shilling to tie up your boat at the dock." He looked over to the mast, which was just peaking above the water level. "And I shall need to know your name," he added, looking back at Jack.

Jack thought for a moment, before digging into his pocket and pulling out some money and placing it on the harbourmaster's open book. "What d'ye say to three shillings . . . and we forget the name?"

The Harbourmaster paused for a moment before slamming the book shut, "Welcome to Port Royal, Mr. Smith."

Jack thanked the man, and headed along the dock, pausing to pick up the harbourmaster's money pouch and pocket it.

Jack headed over to the docks, managing to avoid all the soldiers that were running in formation towards the Fort atop a large cliff, overlooking the bay. He headed up towards an unmanned ship and began to ascend the docks, but quickly found his path blocked by two men dressed in military uniforms.

"Oi, you! This dock is off limits to civilians," said one of them called Murtogg, running in front of him. His friend Mullroy joined him immediately, and Jack had the feeling these men weren't the Navy's brightest.

Jack quickly recovered from this sudden ambush, "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't know. If I see one, I shall inform you immediately," he began to walk around the pair, but was blocked once more. _"Persistent pair,"_ he thought. "Apparently there's some sort of high toned and fancy to do up at the fort, eh?" the pair looked at one another, to the fort, and back at Jack. "How could it be that two upstanding gentlemen such as yourselves did not merit an invitation?" he asked.

"Someone has to make sure this dock stays off limits to civilians, " the one called Murtogg spoke quickly.

"It's a fine goal to be sure but it seems to me that a," Jack began shifting to the side of the dock to look at another ship docked at the opposite end of the port "- as ship like that-" he pointed to the Dauntless "makes this one here a bit superfluous, really."

Murtogg nodded, "Oh, the dauntless is the power in these waters, true enough, but there's no ship as can match the Interceptor for speed."

Jack feigned a thoughtful face before responding, "I've heard of one, supposed to be very fast- nigh un-catchable . . . the Black Pearl."

Mullroy raised an eyebrow while stifling a laugh, "Well . . . there's no real ship as can match the Interceptor."

Murtogg beat Jack to the punch, "The Black Pearl is a real ship."

Mullroy scoffed, "No it's not."

"Yes it is, I've seen it," stated Murtogg. Jack suddenly became very interested in the two guards indeed.

"You've seen it?" Mullroy asked, condescendingly.

"Yes."

"You haven't seen it."

"Yes I have!" replied Murtogg defensively.

Mullroy rolled his eyes, "You've seen a ship with black sails, that's crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out?"

Murtogg was quiet for a moment, "No."

"No," repeated Mullroy

"But I have seen a ship with black sails," Murtogg stated.

While Jack was sorely tempted to interrupt the pair and give them a brief history of his beloved Pearl, he decided to use this time to slip away and onto the ship.

"Oh, and no ship that's not crewed by the damned and captained by a man so evil, that Hell itself spat him back out could possibly have black sails, and therefore possibly couldn't be any other ship than the Black Pearl. Is that what you're saying?" Mullroy replied icily.

Murtogg nodded slightly confused, "no."

"Like I said, there's no real ship as can match the Intercept-" he turned back to where Jack was a few moments ago and noticed he was missing. He turned to the Interceptor and noticed Jack standing at the wheel.

"Hey! You! Get away from there!" Murtogg shouted, as they raced off the docks and onto the ships, their guns trained firmly on Jack.

"You don't have permission to be aboard there, mate," said Mullroy.

"I'm sorry, it's just – its such a pretty boat. Ship." He said quickly, removing his hands from the wheel.

Murtogg frowned, "What's your name?"

"Smith. Or Smithy if you'd like," Jack replied using the name the harbourmaster had given him.

Mullroy spoke next, "What's your purpose in Port Royal, Mr. Smith?"

"Yeah, and no lies," Murtogg added quickly.

Jack quickly stepped out from behind the wheel his hands raised where they could see them, "Well, then, I confess, it is my intention to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer my weasely black guts out!"

Murtogg looked at him carefully before saying, "I said no lies!"

Mullory turned to face him, "I think he's telling the truth."

Murtogg lowered his gun, "If he were telling the truth, he wouldn't have told us."

Jack stepped I, "Unless, of course, he knew you wouldn't believe the truth even if he told it to you," making matters worse. The smiles on the officers face quickly dissipated, and remerged on Jack's.

After Norrington's promotion ceremony had ended, Charlotte made a point of cornering Elizabeth. "You need to get out of that thing, now!" she whisper-yelled.

Elizabeth sighed, "Alright, do you mind helping me with this or?" she asked, gesturing to her waist. Charlotte nodded, and the pair headed away from the milling socialites, when Norrington appeared out of nowhere.

"Elizabeth, may I have a moment?" he asked, gesturing towards the platforms on the battlement. She nodded and quickly headed off with Norrington, leaving Charlotte to contemplate whether her friend actually wanted to die via corset.

Norrington looked slightly nervous as he spoke, his hands were shaking, and thin beads of sweat ran from the temple of his head. "Uh, you look lovely Elizabeth," he began, gesturing to the dress. Elizabeth smiled as she fanned herself profusely. "I, uh, apologize if I seem forward, but I . . . must speak my mind. This promotion throws into sharp relief that which I have not yet achieved." He paused before continuing drawing closer to her, "Uh… a marriage to a fine woman. You have become a fine woman, Elizabeth." He turned away and looked out towards the grounds, where people continued to socialize.

Elizabeth began to blink hard, her back resting against the archway. But the moment that Norrington had mentioned marriage, she'd begun to see black spots, her breathing had stopped altogether (this was aided by the corset) and she said quickly, "I can't breathe" hoping Norrington would get the hint.

"Yes, I... I'm a bit nervous myself" he replied, still not turning around.

Just then, it had become all too much for Elizabeth to bear and she fell over the battlement, fainting.

Charlotte had seen it on Elizabeth's face as she fell, and quickly ran down to the docks, knowing full well that was her best hope. Kicking off her shoes from under her dress, she picked up the heavy garment's folds and ran from the fort.

Norrington turned around and when didn't see her, rushed over to the edge of the battlement in time to see something fall into the water, "ELIZABETH? Elizabeth! My God" he quickly began to unclasp his belt and remove his jacket when Gillette stopped him, "The rocks! Sir it's a miracle she missed them!" The men quickly ran from the fort and down to the docks, Norrington in the lead.


	3. Chapter 3

"…. And then they made me their chief," Jack explained leaning against the ship's railings. Murtogg and Mullroy continued to nod, intrigued. Jack smiled inwardly, _"these fools."_ Just then, something fell from the side of the cliffs by the fort; Jack turned instantly and knew it was a woman. The three of them hurried to the bow of the ship, and Jack turned to the two men, "Will you be saving her then?"

"I can't swim," Mullroy confessed.

Jack turned to Murtogg who stares back at him before shaking his head. Jack let out a groan, "Pride of the King's Navy you are." He quickly unclipped his effects and shoved them in Murtoggs's hands, along with his hat. "Do not lose these," he said before diving in to the water.

The medallion, which Elizabeth had forgotten she was wearing floated out of her dress's bodice and immediately emitted a wave through the water.

"What was that?" asked Murtogg, looking at Mullroy. The pair had both seen a ripple through the water.

Jack swam towards where he'd seen the girl fall in, but found him thrown back slightly. He managed to see her falling to the bottom of the bay and swam quickly. He gabbed her round the waist and pushed up from the floor with his feet, but was quickly dragged back down. He removed the layer of the golden dress from Elizabeth, leaving her in her white undergown. Just as he emerged from the water and swam to the docks, Murtogg and Mullroy quickly rushed over, helping him place her on the dock. "Ooh, I got her," said Murtogg. "She's not breathing."

"It's her corset!" said a voice from somewhere in front of Jack.

He'd suspected that was the case and quickly pulled Murtogg out of the way, "Move!" He pulled out a dagger and quickly slit the corset and Elizabeth began to spit out water, gasping for air. Jack quickly tossed the remains of the corset to Murtogg.

"Never would have thought of that," Mullroy said.

"Clearly you've never been to Singapore," Jack quipped.

Charlotte rushed over, sitting next to Jack and checking on Elizabeth. Jack watched the girl with the startling black hair and green eyes tend to his friend for a moment before something shiny caught his eye. Hanging around the girl's neck was a medallion. " _Not possible_ " Jack thought suddenly. He picked it up just as Elizabeth had begun to regain consciousness properly, "Where did you get that?" he asked. Charlotte heard this and looked between Jack, the medallion, and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked up at him wary but scared.

Just then, Jack felt the cold steel of a blade under his chin and quickly raised his hands, "On your feet" said Norrington.

Governor Swann emerged from between the members of the navy and quickly took off his coat, helping Elizabeth up. "Elizabeth, are you alright?" he asked concerned.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes I'm fine" she quickly tucked the medallion back under her dress as her father covered her in the jacket. Charlotte found herself being dragged towards Elizabeth by the Governor, who spotted Murtogg holding Elizabeth's corset. Murtogg dropped it and pointed to Jack, who rolled his eyes before being placed under the eye of the Governor. "Shoot him!" he ordered.

"Father!" Elizabeth protested, "Commodore, do you really intend to kill my rescuer?" she asked.

Norrington frowned slightly before sticking out his hand to Jack, "I believe thanks are in order." Jack was hesitant before sticking out his hand ever so slightly. Norrington grabbed it and pushed up the sleeve, "Had a brush with the East India Trading Company, did we, pirate?"

Elizabeth, the governor, and all the others looked quite shocked, while Charlotte raised an eyebrow. He looked like a pirate, acted like a pirate, and spoke like one. Why were they surprised?

"Hang him!" Governor Swann ordered.

Norrington nodded, "Keep your guns on him, men. Gillette fetch some irons." Norrington moved Jack's sleeve up more, revealing a tattoo of sparrow in flight. "Well, well, . . . Jack Sparrow, isn't it?"

Charlotte bit her tongue. She'd heard the name from people in Port Royal before. It was often associated with the name of Cutler Beckett, her brother. All she knew is that Jack Sparrow had done something wrong, and her brother had been involved somehow. " _If he knows my brother, and has managed to make him angry, he can't be all too bad,"_ she thought. She kept a close watch on him, looking at everything from the brown boots on his feet, to the sash tied around his waist, the few rings on his hands, to the several hundred beads, coins, and a bone that were tied into his dreadlocks. Several golden teeth flashed as he looked around and spoke.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please, sir" said Jack, smiling toothily at all those surrounding him, lingering on the dark haired girl who's eyes hadn't left him since she'd found out his name.

"Well, I don't see your ship. Captain," said Norrington, with an air of superiority.

"I'm in the market as it were," Jack replied, sounding somewhat tired and disappointed as he spoke.

Murtogg quickly piped up, "He said he'd come to commandeer one."

Jack gave the navy soldier an annoyed look, _"just when you think they're a pair of bumbling idiots, they begin to disprove you."_

"Told ya he was telling the truth. These are his, sir," said Mullroy, showing him Jack's effects.

Norrington released Jack's hands and began to inspect the few things Mullroy had in his hands. "No additional shots nor powder . . . a compass that doesn't point north . . . " he unsheathed the sword and smirked, "and I half expected it to be made of wood." He turned back to Jack, "You are without a doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of."

Jack smirked, "But you have heard of me." Norrington lost all patience and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him down the docks to where Gillette was standing, ready with a pair of iron clamps.

"Commodore, I really must protest!" Charlotte said, intervening, as Elizabeth remained by her father, slightly shocked.

"Carefully lieutenant" said Norrington referring to the man dragging Jack along in his chains, ignoring Elizabeth.

"Pirate or not this man saved my life," Elizabeth interjected, standing in front of Charlotte, who was standing in front of Jack, finally capturing Norrington's attention.

"Sparrow just saved Elizabeth, the woman you were proposing to, and you are completely set on hanging him? Is it your personal mission to be alone forever?" Charlotte said, from behind Elizabeth. She heard Jack give a little laugh, and saw him smiling from the corner of her eye.

Governor Swann spoke up, "Mind your place Charlotte."

Charlotte moved Elizabeth out of the way, and back to the Governor's side, so she could see Norrington properly, "Elizabeth would have been at the bottom of the ocean, and not with you," I reminded him.

"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness," Norrington said, his voice full of annoyance and contempt.

"Though it does seem enough to condemn him," said Jack from behind Charlotte, who cracked a small smile at his witty response.

"Indeed," Norrington replied, as Gillette fastened the last of Jack's irons.

"Finally," he replied, quickly throwing his shacked arms around Charlotte's neck, and pulling back slightly.

"Don't shoot!" cried the Governor and Elizabeth at the same time, looking positively worried for her safety.

"I knew you'd warm up to me. Commodore Norrington, my effect, please, and my hat." Norrington hesitated, as though debating whether Charlotte's life was worth Sparrow's escape. "Commodore!" Jack yelled, partially deafening Charlotte, who raised an eyebrow. Norrington sighed, before taking Jack's belongings from Mullroy and thrusting them into Charlotte's hands. "Charlotte. It is Charlotte isn't it?" Jack asked, smiling toothily.

"It's Miss Vaughan," she replied coolly.

Jack pressed himself up against her back, and rested his head on her shoulder, "Miss Vaughan if you'd be so kind." Charlotte refused to move, so Jack pulled ever so slightly on the chains around her neck, "Come, come, dear we don't have all day." He quickly spun her around so they were facing one another, and picked up his gun, clicking the safety off. "Now if you'd be very kind," he said, smirking as Charlotte slammed the hat down on his head. "That hurt," he murmured only so she could hear.

"Be glad it was your head," she replied quietly, reaching around him to strap the belt with his sword and compass on.

"Easy on the goods, darling," he replied, leaning in close to her.

"What goods?" she replied sassily, before saying "You are despicable!"

Jack smirked, "sticks and stone's, love. I saved your friend's life, you saved mine, we're square. Gentlemen, mi'lady, you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!" Jack said with grandeur, before pushing Charlotte into the arms of Murtogg. He quickly hit a board by a long wheel of rope, causing the rudder to move. Jack linked the chains of his cuffs around this, as it pulled him up, releasing a canon, which broke part of the dock.

"Now will you shoot him!" the Governor cried.

Norrington turned to the men, "Open fire!" All of a sudden the men of the navy began to shoot at Jack, who continued to swing around the beam. He suddenly stopped and quickly leant forward landing on a beam above their heads. "On his heels!" Norrington cried, leading some men away as others continued to fire.

Jack quickly swung his cuffs about a rope and slid down to the grounds a bit past the docks, and sprinted off into the small streets of the town.

"Gillette, Mr. Sparrow has a dawn appointment with the gallows. I would hate for him to miss it," said Norrington, his eyes narrowed at the town. Gillette nodded and led the men into the streets after Jack.

Charlotte helped Elizabeth into a carriage that was waiting nearby along with the Governor. "I will come by later, I just want to get changed," she said, gesturing to the state of her dress. Elizabeth nodded, as the Governor thanked her. Charlotte watched them leave and soon headed off in to the city to meet Will, as she'd promised to do earlier on that day.

As she walked through the streets to the Smithy, she watched the soldiers clear out all the houses and alleyways. _"Like they'd be smart enough to find him_ ," she thought harshly.

Jack managed to sneak around towards the deeper parts of the town, but quickly ducked behind the statue of a man hammering a sword. He waited until they had passed, before tiptoeing out of his hiding place. Suddenly he saw a flurry of Norrington's men run by.

"Search upstairs. Look lively, men!" said one of them.

Jack looked around quickly before ducking into the blacksmith's shop. He closed the door quietly before looking around the room. He spotted a squat man; in an apron lying on a chair with his feet propped up, an empty bottle in hand. Jack poked him in the chest a few times to no avail. He turned away, and quickly looked back "WHAO!" The man didn't move in the slightest. Satisfied, Jack removed his had and placed it on a little hook, before picking up a hammer. He banged away at the irons, but to no avail. He jangled them around slightly before noticing the large machinery on the side of the shop.

He picked up a poker, and used the blazing hot end to spur the donkey. The machine began to run, and Jack hooked the chain of his cuffs around the spinning gears, causing the link to break. Just as he began to feel quite pleased with his brilliance, the door of the shop opened, and Jack quickly hid.

Will wandered into the shop, and noticed the machine running instantly. He quickly calmed the donkey, before checking on Brown. "Right where I left you," he said, tossing his coat on the rack. He wandered over to where the hammer was lying, "not where I left you." He looked confused before spotting Jack's hat. As he reached to pick it up, a blade quickly landed atop his hand. Will, startled, looked up to see Jack pointing his sword at him. "You're the one they're hunting. The pirate."

Jack looked confused, "You seem somewhat familiar. Have I threatened you before?"

Will took a moment, as he saw Charlotte arrive through the back door (as she always did). She noticed Jack immediately, and moved to lock the door. Will shook his head, "I make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates."

"Ah, well, then it would be a shame to put a black mark on your record. So, if you'll excuse me…." Jack quickly turned away and was about to leave when he noticed Charlotte. "Hello, love."

"You've already put a black mark on my record," Charlotte replied.

Jack pointed to her, "I won't fight you. You are unarmed. However," he said, turning to Will, who quickly pulled out a sword and stood in front of the door. "Do you think this wise, boy- crossing blades with a pirate?"

"You threatened Miss Swann," said Will, looking at Jack with pure dislike. Charlotte gave a little cough and wave behind Jack's back, which caused Will to nod, "and Charlotte."

"Thanks mate," she replied.

Jack and Will ignored her, and she used this time to quickly remove the heavier layers of her dress in order to second Will, in case he got injured.

"I only threatened them a little," Jack replied, scraping his sword against Will's. The pair parried for a few seconds, which allowed Jack to get a rough estimate on how well of a fighter Will was. "You know what you're doing. I'll give you that. Excellent form. But how's your footwork? If I step here," Jack moved to the left. "Very good. Now I step again," this time he went to the right completely. The pair ended up on opposite sides, with Jack by the door. "Ta." He sheathed his sword and quickly moved to the door. Just as he reached it, something went whizzing by his ear and hit the door, causing it to remain locked. Jack frowned before attempting to wrench the sword out of the door, but to no avail. He looked back and saw Charlotte standing there smugly, her arm raised. "That is a wonderful trick, love. Except, once again you are between my and my way out. And you, again, haven't a weapon."

Charlotte turned around and pulled another sword out of the fire, it's blade glowing red. "Think again Sparrow," she replied, parrying. Will joined her after he got over his initial shock, the pair taking it in turns to ambush Jack. While Will attacked, Charlotte crept out of the blacksmiths and attempted to find the soldiers.

Jack and Will continued to fight, moving around the blacksmiths. Will had lost yet another sword and quickly pulled another from the rotating beam near the pair of them. "Who makes all these?" Jack asked, looking around at the swords.

"I do! And I practice with them…three hours a day!" Will replied, getting somewhat annoyed by Jack.

"You need to find yourself a girl, mate," said Jack. He noticed a change in Will's behavior and began to taunt him further in order to distract him. "Or perhaps the reason you practice three hours a day is that you already found a girl and are otherwise incapable of wooing said strumpet. You're not a eunuch, are you?"

Jack asked, looking pointedly at Will's crotch.

"I practice three hours a day, so that when I meet a pirate, I can kill it!" Will shouted back. He moved onto a large cart, with Jack on the opposite end. The cart broke free, and the pair began balancing in order to continue their fight. Will quickly pulls out a knife from his belt and slides it though one of the chains and into the beam above Jack's head.

Jack slashed wildly in the air, before stomping on the board of the cart, causing the plank to rise on Will's side and knock him out. Jack quickly flipped himself upside down, placing his feed on the beam and using his body weight to pull himself free, just as Will stepped back on the cart. The wood around the blade splintered with Jack's weight and he came crashing down, causing Will to go flying through the air and onto the beams above Jack.

Jack recovered quickly and looked straight ahead expectantly. He didn't see anything and was confused, before a sack of sand landed on the opposite side of the cart, causing Jack to go flying up to the rafters as well. He looked and saw Will prepared to fight once more. He heaved himself onto the planks, and the pair continued to fight, jumping from beam to beam. Eventually, Will managed to disarm Jack, using a maneuver that Charlotte had taught him a few days ago. Jack quickly jumped off the rafters and back to the ground of the blacksmiths.

Will followed, and Jack, without a weapon, quickly grabbed the bellow and sprayed Will with sand, temporarily blinding him. He kicked Will's sword out of his hand, which caused will to pick up the hammer Jack had abandoned there. But Jack had had enough and took out his pistol. "You cheated," said Will, looking at him with disappointment.

"Pirate," Jack replied. Just then the door at the front began to shake, and Jack heard the soldiers outside. Will stepped in front of the door once more, "Please move," Jack said desperately.

"No," replied Will, stubborn as ever.

"Please move," Jack repeated.

"No! I cannot step aside and let you escape," Will replied, looking scandalized.

Jack looked frustrated, as ever, before clicking the safety off of the pistol, "This shot is not meant for you."

Will lowered his hammer slightly in confusion. Just as he was about to move, a bottle was slammed atop Jack's head, causing the bottle to shatter, and Jack to get knocked unconscious. Behind Jack stood Brown, his hand still clenched around the bottleneck.

Norrington's men had just broken the door down and several of the soldiers quickly swept around Jack, Charlotte trailing behind, while they pointed their guns at him, "there he is. Over here."

Norrington and Charlotte appeared at Will's side and looked at Jack with satisfaction. "You've assisted in the capture of a dangerous fugitive," he said to Brown.

Brown shrugged, "just doing my civic duty sir," he replied. Will raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Charlotte, who suppressed a laugh.

Norrington turned to his men, "Well, I trust you will always remember this as the day that Captain Jack Sparrow almost escaped. Take him away," he said, turning to face Charlotte. "While I am glad that you alerted us to his presence, it was foolish for you to go after Sparrow alone."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "I can do what ever I please Commodore. Who are you going to call upon to manage me?" She moved aside and gestured to the door. Norrington huffed before leaving, a few of his men dragging Sparrow out of the blacksmiths. "What happened to you?" Charlotte asked, dusting the sand off of Will's hair.

"He cheated," Will repeated.

"He's a pirate, what did you expect?" she replied in an obvious tone. She brushed her hair out of her face, "Did he say anything important?"

"Define important' for me?" said Will, as he sat down on one of the upturned barrels.

Charlotte sat down next to him, "Did he say anything about Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company?"

Will was confused. He knew she was a Beckett, but he hadn't the slightest clue what that had in connection with Sparrow. "No, he didn't" he replied.

Charlotte nodded before getting up, "We should probably clean ourselves up. Especially you," she joked, dusting off his shoulder. "You did good fending him off, I was watching."

"Thanks, we had good teachers," Will replied, giving her a hug.

"Easy for you to say. Mine was a complete imbecile," she joked, turning around and heading out to her mansion. "I'll tell Elizabeth what you did today. I'm sure she's dying to know what happened."

"Thank you," said Will, trying to hide his gratefulness.

"Don't mention it," Charlotte replied, closing the door of the shop behind her.

Will took a look around and surveyed the damage. He was going to have to put in some extra hours to get this place back up and running. He was shocked by a sudden noise, and turned to the corner of the store. Brown had fallen asleep again.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack was currently sitting in the one place he'd never thought he would ever be in; jail. Commodore Norrington had thought it best if he was left alone, in his own cell. He took Jack's effects and left them in a storage cupboard near the cell.

Jack listened as the prisoners in the next cell over pressed themselves against the bars of their cell, whistling. One of them waved a bone to a dog that was sitting on the floor with the keys in its mouth. "Come here boy. Want a nice juicy bone? Come here. Come here," they begged.

Jack smirked from under his hat, his back turned to them, "You can keep doing that forever, the dog is never going to move."

One of the prisoners spoke nervously, "Oh, excuse us if we haven't resigned ourselves to the gallows just yet."

Jack ignored him and continued to smile. He'd been in worse situations, and surely this one would work in his favour. He was quite lucky in that respect.

"I cannot believe you did that!" shouted Elizabeth at Charlotte. The pair was sitting in Elizabeth's living room, off of her bedroom. While Charlotte was out chasing and fighting pirates, she'd been forced to return home, and have a nice relaxing bath before tea. "Is Will alright?" Elizabeth suddenly asked, noting the lack of her father and her maids.

Charlotte nodded, "He fought Sparrow very well. For someone that has never been in a fight that could result in injury and or death." Will had given her a play by play of his fight with Sparrow, which she had recited for Elizabeth.

"I can not believe that he was so intent on fighting Sparrow, simply because of what he'd done to you and I," Elizabeth marveled. It still surprised her that Will's feelings had run so deep that he would be willing to risk his death in order to save her. While she had become aware of will's feelings for her since they were children, she was never able to place herself in a position to reciprocate them, as they were miles away on the social chart. She'd always thanked Charlotte for being friends with the pair of them, even though she was the third wheel. "Norrington proposed," she stated dully.

"I know," Charlotte replied. Nothing ever went by her notice. "I heard him talking about doing it today a few days ago. Apparently he's been planning this for a while." She paused before saying what was on her mind, "Are- are you going to say yes?"

Elizabeth sighed, turning to her friend. "I don't know. He's nice, and a good friend, but I don't see myself with him. I don't see myself being happy with him" she corrected.

"That settle's it then. Next time he or your father should dredge the topic you know your answer. And your father is a kind man. He will not force you to marry Norrington if you're heart isn't in it. He loves you too much to put you through such pain."

The pair continued to talk for the majority of the evening until Elizabeth decided to go to bed. Charlotte bid her a goodnight, before heading through the town to her mansion on the other side of the small village. Once she'd reached her home, she'd decided to get cleaned up and put herself to bed. She'd been through quite the event today.

Elizabeth's maids had thankfully placed several hot pans under her mattress effectively warming her against the chill. She sat in bed as Estrella, her maid, helped her with the last few things, "There you go, Miss. It was a difficult day for you I'm sure."

Elizabeth merely nodded, still thinking about the Commodore's proposal. "I suspected the Commodore would propose but I must admit, I wasn't entirely prepared for it." Norrington's words echoed through her head once more, as she attempted to focus on the book in front of her.

"Well, I meant you falling into the water and getting saved by that pirate. Sounds terrifying."

Elizabeth was shocked out of her reverie, "Oh yes, it was terrifying."

Estrelle smiled, "But the Commodore proposed. Fancy that. Now, that's a smart match, Miss, if it's not too bold to say." Estrella leant by the nightstand and lit the oil lamp.

"It is a smart match. He's a fine man; he's what any woman should dream of marrying," Elizabeth replied dully, saying what many other socialites would say if they were in her position.

Estrella paused, "Well that Will Turner, he's a fine man, too."

Elizabeth looked over at Estrella, raising an eyebrow, "That is too bold."

Estrella backed away, and spoke hesitantly, "Well, begging your pardon Miss. It was not my place." She tiptoed out of the room and shut the door leaving Elizabeth alone to her thoughts.

Back in the blacksmiths, Will was forging another sword, hammering away at his anger and bitterness concerning his current position. He'd only overheard by some of the Navy's men passing by one of the open windows that the Commodore had proposed to Elizabeth.

Just then, he heard a gust of wind, and felt something tingle at the back of his neck, as though he were being watched. He walked over to the window, unlatched it, and looked out onto the empty streets. A dog ran by, barking. Will was confused. He'd never seen the streets of Port Royal this empty, especially at night.

The Governor and Norrington were pacing along the battlements of the Fort, discussing the day's events, when Swann asked, "Has my daughter given you an answer yet?" He'd known Norrington was going to propose, and that was the true reason behind the dress

"No, she hasn't," he replied, sounding slightly disheartened.

"Well, she has had a very trying day," said Swann, hoping to make the Commodore feel better. He glanced around, trying to find something else to focus the conversation on, "ghastly weather, don't you think?"

Norrington nodded, slightly preoccupied with his thoughts, "Bleak. Very bleak."

Just then there was a loud vibration that could be felt through the air, "what was that?" asked Swann, looking around the top of the fort.

Norrington quickly turned around, "CANNON FIRE!" he pushed the Governor out of the way, taking the blast himself. "Return fire!" he yelled to the soldiers who'd now appeared on the fort. Norrington continued to shout at soldiers, "Sight the muzzle flash!" as the fort was attacked. "I need a full strike, fore and aft! Let these daemons both bite at this!" They fired cannons at the ship, which was now docked at the Port. Norringotn watched as several longboats filled with pirates came ashore.

The Governor looked around in fear until the Commodore turned back to him, "Governor, barricade yourself in my office. That's an order!"

Swann scurried into the fort, praying Elizabeth was alright.

Jack sat in the moonlight when suddenly something shocked him out of his reverie. The ceiling above him shook, and dust crumbled down from it. The prisoners in the cell next to him stopped and looked around. Suddenly Jack stood up, climbed up on the bench of his cell, and peaked out through the barred window above him. "I know those canons."

There floating on the surface of the Port's waters was as ship. "It's the Pearl," he said, smiling. His beloved ship and the apple of his eye was back, just the same day that he was locked up, This could be no mere coincidence. Perhaps he was going to be saved after all.

"The Black Pearl?" asked one man.

One of the prisoners from the other cell moved to the bars between his and Jack's cells. "I've heard stories. She's been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never leaves any survivors."

Jack stifled a laugh, as he responded, "No survivors? Then where do the stories con from, I wonder?" He didn't need to look at the man to know that he was definitely confused.

Will had already gathered a few weapons for the blacksmiths and was fighting hand-to-hand against the pirates that had come off of the ship. He saw a pirate chasing a maid through the streets and threw his hatchet at him, effectively killing him.

He ran to pick it up and saw it already in the hands of Charlotte, who'd changed into a pair of breeches, corset, and a plain shirt, "let's go!" She said. Together they fought through the streets, defending those who were unable to defend themselves. Suddenly, Will turned to her, "check on Elizabeth. NOW!"

Charlotte nodded, before fighting her way towards the governor's house, where some pirates had already headed mere moments ago.


	5. Chapter 5

In the Governor's house, Elizabeth had heard the loud noises, and run to the window of her room. Just that morning she had been rewarded with the view of a beautiful and clear blue sky, the calmness of the town, and peace. Now, she watched as the Fort was attacked, people screamed, and a stream of pirates ran up to the mansion, breaking down the gates.

She quickly ran out of her room and heard the knocking at the door. "No!" she screamed as she watched in horror. The butler opened the door, as she descended the stairs. Standing at the front of a group of the most ragged, filthy, and horrible looking men Elizabeth had ever seen was a squat bald man with a gun, pointed firmly at the butler's head. "Hello chum," and a shot rang out, killing the butler immediately.

She couldn't prevent herself from screaming, causing the squat man, and the thin one with the wooden eye to notice her quickly. "Up there!" he said, pointing to her.

"Girl!" said another.

Elizabeth quickly turned around and headed back up the stairs and into her room, where she ran into Estrella, who locked the chamber door, and pulled her aside. "Miss Swann, they've come to kidnap you!"

"What?" said Elizabeth, completely confused and worried.

"You're the governor's daughter," said Estrella.

Elizabeth ignored this and spoke quickly, a plan forming in her head, "They haven't seen you. Hide, and the first chance you get, run to the fort." She quickly turned back to the door, which had just been broken open. She distracted the two pirates as the maid ran out. The squat one quickly followed her, and Elizabeth quickly grabbed a bed warmer, whacking him in the face with it, knocking him flat on his back.

His one-eyed friend followed quickly behind, and Elizabeth released the ashes from the coal onto his head. "It's hot! You burned me!"

She tossed the bed warmer aside and quickly ran out of her room, and back down the hall to the stairs. The squat one turned to his friend, "come on!"

Elizabeth ran down the stairs but found her path blocked by the one-eyed pirate, who'd jumped over the banner, and in front of her, his arms open wide. The three of them stopped and watched as another pirate came out of the room to the left, his arms full of jewels and silver cutlery. They watched as a cannon, launched from the ship, flew through the right window and knocked him back into the room.

Elizabeth looked up and saw the chandelier in the foyer about to fall, and used the distraction to quickly run back to the room that the pirate had been blown into. The chandelier fell crashing as she ran, effectively delaying the other two pirates from chasing her.

She slammed the doors shut and locked them with candelabra. She ran to the mantle, above which hung two crossed swords. She pulled them both down, and attempted to remove one of them, but to no avail. She watched as the two pirates attempted to break the door down, and quickly threw the swords aside, and ducked into one of the cabinets lining the right side of the room, which held the china.

She held her breath as the door was broken open, and the two pirates entered. "We know you're here, Poppet," said the plump pirate.

"Poppet," murmured the one eyed pirate.

"Come out . . . and we promise we won't hurt you," said Pintel, who smiled at Ragetti's questioning look. "We will find you, Poppet. You've got something of ours, and it calls to us. The gold calls to us."

"Gold calls . . ." said Ragetti

Elizabeth pulled the medallion out of her corset and looked at it through the sliver of light between the cabinet's doors. Just then the sliver of light vanished, and Elizabeth looked up to see the eye of the fat pirate looking through the crack, and directly at her. "'Ello, Poppet."

They pulled the doors open and were ready to grab her when Elizabeth quickly threw up both her hands, "Parley!"

"What?" said Ragetti.

"Parley," Elizabeth repeated. "I invoke the right of parley. According to the Code of the Brethren, set down by the pirates Morgan and Bartholomew, you have to take me to your Captain."

"I know the code," said Pintel, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"If an adversary demands parley, you can do them no harm until the parley is complete," Elizabeth spoke quickly; quite glad she'd spent the majority of her youth reading about pirates.

"To blazes with the Code," growled Ragetti.

Pintel held up a hand, "She wants to be taken to the Captain," he said. He looked back at her with a smile, "And she'll go without a fuss. We must honour the Code." They each took ahold of one arm and marched Elizabeth out of the mansion, and down the streets of Port Royal to the ship.

Charlotte had reached the mansion, as she watched Elizabeth leave. She fought through some of the pirates, cutting down anyone in her path, but was quickly blocked by a towering man, who fought her back down the drive. But by the time she'd finished him Elizabeth was gone.

Instead of heading back down through the town in search, she ran towards the Fort, fighting her way to Norrington. "Elizabeth! The pirates have taken her!"

Norrington blanched, as one of the soldiers tried to help Charlotte to her seat. The Governor appeared and looked positively frightened, "Elizabeth's been taken?" he asked. Charlotte nodded, before heading back out on to the streets in search of Will. If anyone would have wanted to find her, it was him.

Will had been fighting the same man for almost five minutes. Suddenly, his sword flew out of his hands, and skittered away. "Say goodbye," said the huge Pirate, ready to swing his axe. Suddenly, a cannonball severed the ropes holding steel sign above him and Will ducked out of the way.

"Goodbye," he said, grabbing an abandoned sword from the ground. He turned and saw Elizabeth in the hands of two pirates, and made to run towards her. He watched as one of them dragged her along, "Come on!"

She looked around and immediately caught his eye, "Will!"

"Elizabeth!" Will said, making his way towards them when a pirate blocked his path. Will looked at him confused as the pirate waved. It was the same one he'd killed with his hatchet not long ago. Will made to unsheathe his sword when he heard a pirate behind him say, "Outta my way, scum," and he was knocked out by something hitting his head.

In the jail, the prisoners watched as the town of Port Royal was burned and pillaged. They all quickly jumped away from the exterior wall as a cannonball flew towards it, blowing a hole in the cell next to Jack's.

The prisoners all jumped out and scarpered. One of them turned to Jack and said, "MY sympathies, friend. You've no manner of luck at all," before jumping out of the hole.

Jack remained still for a moment before grabbing the abandoned bone and sticking his hand out of the cell, whistling. "Come on doggy. It's just you and me now. It's just you and ol' Jack. Come on. Come on, good boy." The dog whimpered before slowly drawing nearer, "that a good boy, come on! Bit closer, bit closer. That's it, that's it, doggy." The dog drew level with Jack, and was a few inches away from his reach. "Come on you filthy, slimy, mangy cur." There was a crash from upstairs, and the dog quickly ran away. "No, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean it. I didn't . . . " Jack faltered as he stood up and watched a guard come crashing down the stairs and land in a heap on the floor.

Two men came running down; (one with a bandana and a scraggly beard) Twigg and Koehler (a man with dreadlocks).

Twigg looked around as Jack watched them enviously, "this aint the armory."

Koehler had spotted Jack the moment they'd come down the stairs, "Well, well, well, look what we have here Twigg- Captain Jack Sparrow."

Jack smiled, but quickly moved out of the way as Twigg spat at him. "Last time I saw you, you were all alone on a godforsaken island, shrinking into the distance." Twigg smirked, "His fortunes aren't improved much."

Jack smiled, "Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen. The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers." Koehler stuck his hand through the bar and grabbed Jack's neck. The moonlight in the cell caused Koehler's arm to become skeletal and the fabric around it to decay. "So there is a curse. That's interesting."

Koehler growled, "You know nothing of Hell," he said, before throwing Jack back with force. The pair left, leaving Jack completely alone. He picked up the abandoned bone and examined it, "that's very interesting."

Elizabeth is rowed across with the pirates and watched as they came nearer to the Black Pearl. The ship looked familiar. Everything from the ripped sails, the blackened hull and mast, and the flag with the skull and crossed swords reminded her of the ship she'd seen eight years ago.

Once she'd gotten onto the ship, she watched as the two pirates dragged her up to the Bo'sun. "I didn't know we was takin' on captives," he said, looking down at her.

Pintel explained, "She's invoked the right of parley with Captain Barbossa."

Elizabeth stepped forward, "I am here to negotiate –" she was cut off as the Bo'sun slapped her across the face.

"You will speak when spoken to," he said.

Suddenly an older man appeared dressed in a long coat, a large feathered hat, and heeled shoes. He had a scraggly beard, rotting teeth, but his eyes were bright blue, the colour of the sea. He grabbed the Bo'sun 's wrist. "And ye not lay a hand on those under the protection of parley."

The Bo'sun looked down, "Aye, sir."

Barbossa turned to Elizabeth, "My apologies, Miss."

Elizabeth turned to him and spoke clearly, trying her hardest not to show how nervous she was. "Captain Barbossa , I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal."

Some of the pirates looked around muttering, and BArbosse merely smiled, "there are a lot of long words in there, Miss; we're naught but humble pirates. What is it that you want?"

Elizabeth frowned, "I want you to leave and never come back."

Barbossa smirked, "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request." Elizabeth looked confused, while the pirates all laughed, "Means "no."" said Barbossa, noting the look upon her face.

Elizabeth turned around and walked over to the railing of the ship, pulling the medallion off her neck and holding it above the sea. "Very well. I'll drop it."

Barbossa looked at the other pirates, who were concerned. He turned back to Elizabeth and said, "Me holds are burstin' with swag. That bit of shine matters to us?" He eyed her with fear, "Why?"

Elizabeth looked at them suspiciously. "It's what you've been searching for." She paused before saying, "I recognized the ship. I saw it eight years ago on the crossing from England."

Barbossa smirked, "Did ya, now?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Fine. Well, I suppose if it is worthless then there's no point in me keeping it." She dropped the chain a bit, and the pirates lunged forwards.

Barbossa realized he'd been caught and eyed her carefully. "Ah," he chuckled. "You have a name, Missy?"

"Elizabeth" she paused "…Turner. I'm a maid in the Governor's household," she curtsied for the added effect.

Barbossa looked at the other pirates, "Miss Turner."

They all laughed and clapped, while Pintel muttered, "Bootstrap."

Barbossa looked back at Elizabeth, "and how does a maid come to own a trinket such as that. Family heirloom, perhaps?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean."

Barbossa nodded, "very well, you hand it over and we'll put your town to our rudder and ne'er return."

Elizabeth handed him the medallion and said, "our bargain?"

Barbossa walks away from her, passing the coin to the monkey sitting on her shoulder. He nodded to the Bo'sun who quickly began shouting orders, "still the guns and stow 'em, Signal the men, set the flags and make good to clear port."

Elizabeth ran after Barbossa, who was heading up the stairs to the helm. "Wait! You have to take me to shore. According to the Code of the Order of the Brethren –."

Barbossa turned to face her, grimacing, "First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate's code to apply and you're not. And thirdly, the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner."

Elizabeth found herself being dragged away and into one of the rooms below the decks by a few of the pirates. They barricaded her in one of the larger rooms, where she collapsed on a chair and let the tiredness and fear take her over.


	6. Chapter 6

Charlotte had spent the better part of two hours searching the streets for Will, and managed to find him lying face down on a road, a small lump on the back of his head. She bent down and splashed some water from a nearby barrel on him, which quickly awoke him. He sat up, rubbing his eyes before jumping up and nearly knocking Charlotte over, "Elizabeth!" he cried.

"She's gone Will. For hours now. We need to get to the Fort and talk to Norrington," she said, grabbing him by the arm and leading him to the fort.

"What happened?" asked Will.

"Long story short; Elizabeth's been kidnapped, the Commodore and her father are setting out to find her. I've spent the last few hours looking for you, and here we are," she said, as they reached the Fort.

Charlotte led him into the room where Norrington and Swann were hovering over a map, surrounded by several other soldiers. "They've taken her. They've taken Elizabeth!" said Will, looking directly at Norrington.

Norrington didn't bother to look up, "Mr. Murtogg, remove them now."

A soldier moved to grab Will and another to grab Charlotte. Will moved out of the soldier's reach and to the table, "We have to hunt them down. We must save her."

Norrington looked up, and Will was able to see the worry in them tearing him apart. "And where do you propose we start? If you have any information concerning my daughter please share it" said the Governor sharply.

Murtogg spoke, "That Jack Sparrow. He talked about the Black Pearl."

"Mentioned it, is more what he did," said Mullroy.

Will looked at the other men in the room, as well as Charlotte, "Ask him where it is." He spoke directly to Norrington, "Make a deal with him. He could lead us to it."

Norrington shook his head, "No . . . the pirates who invaded this Fort left Sparrow locked in his cell ergo they are not his allies." He turned to Swann and said, "Governor, we will establish their most likely course . . ."

Will was fed up and threw his hatchet into the table, through the map. "That's not good enough!" he shouted.

Charlotte was surprised, she'd never seen Will this riled up before, and she was beginning to think this was a Will she could get on board with.

Norrington turned to Will, positively livid. "Mr. Turner, you are not a military man, you are not a sailor." He pulled the hatchet out of the table and thirsted it back in Will's hands. "You are a blacksmith and this is _not_ the moment for rash actions." He grabbed Will and Charlotte out of the room. "Do not make the mistake of thinking you are the only man here who cares for Elizabeth," he whispered, before leaving them to go back to his work.

Will looked at Charlotte, "What do we do now?" he asked, looking defeated.

Charlotte smiled, "Norrington's just told us. Sparrow's still locked away in the cell. Just because those pirates didn't save him, doesn't mean he can't help us. We go down there and we talk to him, like you said." She turned away and Will followed her through the maze of the Fort, and down below. The entrance to the cell was guarded, but Will and Charlotte managed to overtake the pair of soldiers easily.

Before they descended the stairs, she looked to Will, "we need a bargaining chip. Can you get him out of the cell?" Will nodded, "good. That's what we offer him. Freedom."

Will looked down at her, "You're willing to let him walk free after he threatened you?"

Charlotte nodded, "if it gets me my best friend back, then yes." She turned on her heel and marched down to the holding. Will was slightly uneasy about this plan, noting the large amount of things that could go wrong, as he followed.

Jack was currently at the end of his rope. He had stuck the bone into the keyhole of the cell, and attempted to pick it. "Please," he said, wrenching it around. Just then he heard a noise from above, and the sound of someone heading town the stone steps. He quickly left the bone in the lock, and lied down on the hay-covered floor of the cell.

Charlotte -or Miss Vaughan rather- came into views. She was dressed in a pair of well-fitting bleechers, a corset, and a linen shirt. Her hair was open, and scattered and she had a nasty cut on her arm, as well as some small ones on her hands. Behind her was the other long-haired man that he'd fought in the blacksmiths yesterday.

He looked up at her and smiled, "Hello love. Feeling lonely?" he asked, his eyes tracing her figure.

"Hello Captain Jack Sparrow," said Charlotte, attempting to sound somewhat seductive. She'd seen Sparrow eyeing her yesterday before he threatened her, and as she hand approached the cell. She knelt down at eye level with Jack.

Will backed away slightly. He'd never seen Charlotte trying to seduce anyone before, as she'd always been extremely calm and polite, using the power of her words, rather than her body. But judging by Sparrow's reactions, he'd begun to take a fancy to her.

Jack, who'd been propping himself up on his elbows, immediately moved over to the bars towards Charlotte. He kneeled forward and looked at her properly, allowing her emerald green eyes to pierce his brown ones. For some reason, he was more scared of what might happen to him if he disobeyed Charlotte, rather than facing the gallows. "Aye,' he replied, flashing her his usual toothy grin, in hopes that his good looks might soften her further. He gave her another once over, his eyes resting about eight inches south of her face.

Charlotte noticed this, and pulled out her gun, aiming it in the middle of Jack's eyes as she stood up. "I may be a woman, but when I speak, I expect you to look in my face rather than at my chest." Will tried not to laugh, and covered his face with his hand as he walked up to the cell to stand next to Charlotte in case she needed to be held back.

Jack rolled his eyes, and looked up. He tried not to betray his surprise. She wasn't mad, but rather she was smiling. "Alright love, what do you want?" He laid back down and watched the pair.

"You are familiar with that ship- the Black Pearl?" Will asked, while Charlotte kept her hand steady.

Jack looked at him with disinterest, "I've heard of it." So they wanted to know about the ship, eh? He thought. Well how about it. Let's see what they've got to offer ol' Jackie, before I start making promises.

Will hesitated before asking his next question; "Where does it make berth?"

Jack looked at him with incredulity, "Where does it make berth?" he repeated. "Have you not heard the stories?" Charlotte clicked the safety off of the pistol and Jack gave her a dirty look. "Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail from the dreaded Isla de Muerta." He paused before choosing his words wisely, "It's an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is." He had made this his bargaining chip, they can't look for an unknown island, and he wasn't going to give up the bearings- again.

Charlotte turned to Will, who looked confused, "The ship's real enough. Therefore, its anchorage must be a real place." She turned back to Jack, who smiled back at her, "Where is it?"

He gave her an amused look, "Why ask me?"

"Because you're a pirate," Will and Charlotte replied slowly.

"And you want to turn pirate yourselves, eh?" Jack replied, with a smirk.

Will slammed his hand on the bar, "Never! They took Miss Swann." Charlotte gave Will an observant look. That's the second time he'd lost his mind over her today.

Jack clapped, "Oh, so it is that you've found a girl. I see." He turned to Charlotte, who'd remained quiet for a few moments. Her eyes were trained on Jack, but her brain seemed miles away. "What about you love, what do you want?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Same reasons as him"- she jerked her head towards Will, "but also different."

Jack noticed Will quickly turn to face her, with confusion. Clearly she was hiding something from him. And if there was a secret between the pair of them, they could easily cost Jack his mission.

Jack smirked, "Ah. Secretive. My type of woman." He gave her a wink before looking to Will, "well, if you're intending to brave all, hasten to her rescue and so win fair lady's heart you'll have to do it alone, mate. I see no profit in it for me."

Will looked at Charlotte from the corner of her eye, and saw her nod once, "I can get you out of here."

For once, Jack was legitimately confused. "How? The key's run off" he made a few flapping movements with his hands to emphasize the point. Charlotte removed Jack from gunpoint, clicked the safety back on, and tucked the gun back into her belt.

Will looked at the cell, "I helped build these cells. These are half pin-barrel hinges." Will turned around and grabbed a bench, hooking it through the bottom frame of the cell door. "With the right leverage and the proper application of strength… the door will lift free."

"What's your name?" asked Jack, sitting up and looking at Will with as much interest as he looked at Charlotte.

"Will Turner," replied Will, looking slightly confused.

"That would be short for William, I imagine," said Jack, nodded. "Good, strong name. No doubt, named for your father, eh?"

Charlotte looked at Jack, suddenly he seemed interested in helping them. Because of a name? That was odd. And she wasn't about to disregard this information.

"Yes," Will replied, eyeing Jack suspiciously. He knew Charlotte had noticed this, and made a mental note to ask her about her thoughts later.

"Uh-huh," said Jack, looking down. He was quiet for a moment before looking back up and smiling, "Well, Mr Turner, I've changed me mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear on pain of death I shall take you to the Black Pearl and your bonny lass. Do we have an accord?" He stood up and stuck his hand through the bars.

Will paused before shaking. "Agreed."

"Agreed. Now, get me out" Jack ordered, backing away from the door slightly.

Together, Charlotte and Will lifted the door free, and tossed the remains of the cell and the bench aside. "Hurry, the guards might wake up," Charlotte said.

"Not without my effects," said Jack, scurrying over to the bench, and grabbing the hat and belt of weapons Charlotte had strapped on him before. "Mind giving me a hand, love?" he asked, turning to her.

She raised an eyebrow, "No, but I'll cut one of your hands off," she replied, before heading for the stairs.

"Is she coming with us?" asked Jack, pointing up at her with a slightly displeased expression on his face.

"Yes," replied Will, "I'd like to see you stop her." He pushed Jack infront of him, knowing that it would be a bad idea not to keep an eye on him. He was a pirate after all.


	7. Chapter 7

The trio climbed up the stairs and into one of the halls of the Fort. Jack felt his foot hit something, and looked down. The body of a solider was laying on the ground, a small lump just visible at the top of his head. He looked down the hall and saw several other soldiers lying unmoving on the floor. "Did she do that?" he asked Will, who smirked.

"Scared of her?" he asked, nudging Jack along.

He followed the young woman out of the Fort, eyeing her movements critically. She moved swiftly, as though she were made of liquid. The poise and soundlessness with which she moved would make her an excellent asset in his attempt to regain captaincy of the Pearl. However, she could be a threat as well. She seemed determined to find her friend, but if she wasn't doing it for the same reasons as her dear friend, then why was she so intent on coming with them?

Will covered them from behind, taking care to block Jack from the eyes of passer's by. The Fort held a small back path, which cut around the back of the island and to the docks.

Jack quickly pulled them both aside and pointed to the Dauntless, the same ship he'd seen the day before. "We're going to steal the ship?" Will asked, peering past Jack. "That ship?"

"Commandeer," said Jack, "We're going to commandeer that ship."

"Nautical term," Charlotte supplied with a whisper.

Jack smiled, but turned back towards the pair of them, looking slightly more serious. "One question about your business or there's no use going. This girl- how far are you two willing to go to save her?" he asked.

"I'd die for her," Will said quickly yet firmly.

Jack nodded and looked at Charlotte. "She's my best friend," She said, echoing her earlier statement.

Jack nodded, his smile reappearing on his face, "Good. No worries, then."

Will and Charlotte exchanged looks before following Jack to a row of longboats. He quickly held it up, and pointed, "Get under there now, in a line."

Will went first, then Charlotte, and then Jack. They squatted in a row before Jack gave more instructions, "we hold this over ourselves, move to the water, and keep holding it tight at shoulder level. Alright? Good." They quickly began to walk and soon, they'd entered the waters of the Port.

Charlotte and Will gripped the boat tightly, as the boat created an air pocket under the water. "This is either madness-" began Will.

"Or brilliance," said Charlotte, trying her hardest not to smile, but failing dismally.

Jack was pleased with his idea, "It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide." He was just about to give himself a mental pat on the back when he heard a crunch.

Charlotte and he looked back to see Will attempting to shake a crab trap off of his leg. "Occasionally they do intersect with stupidity," Jack quipped. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Charlotte smiling. He immediately felt a squirm in his stomach and quickly looked back in front of him. "Here we are, lady and gentlemen," he nodded to the hull of the ship in front of him.

Jack used the rope attached to the crab trap as a lasso and offered the rope to Charlotte, "Ladies first."

"Why thank you Jack," she replied quickly climbing the rope and holding it in place for the other two men to climb. Jack emerged first, and Will followed closely behind. "And now," said Jack, tiptoeing across the deck. "Everyone," he announced, unsheathing his sword, "Stay calm! We are taking over the ship!"

Will hopped over the banner and dropped down next to Jack, "Aye! Avast!"

Jack looked at Will, trying to contain his annoyance. The rest of the men on the ship laughed. Charlotte recognized one of them as Gillette, Norrington's second in command.

"This ship cannot be crewed by two men. You'll never make it out of the bay," he gloated, laughing in Jack's face.

"There are three of us, Gillette," Charlotte spoke, from her place by the helm. She calmly walked towards Gillette pulling out a small dagger from her side and placing it against his throat.

"I stand by my comment, Miss Vaughan," Gillette said. "You three cannot make it out of the bay."

Jack had had enough. They were delaying time. He pulled out his pistol, aimed it at Gillette's nose, and clicked the safety off. "Son . . . I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?"

It took a few moments and a warning shot from Charlotte's pistol to get the sailors to move into one longboat. "Mark my words Turner, the Commodore won't let you back on this island ever again!" said Gillette, waving his fist and Will and Jack lowered the boat into the water. Will looked at Charlotte, worry in his eyes.

Charlotte laughed, "Sorry 'bout this Gillette!" she said. She grabbed her daggar and cut the ropes, causing the longboat to fall the last few feet. A few of the men fell into the water, and they watched as the longboat headed back to the docks.

Jack turned to her, "let me give the orders next time. Alright, love?" he said.

Charlotte nodded, "Fine Captain. What are your orders?" she asked.

Jack was silent for a few moments, his mind reeling with potential ideas. He watched as his lack of response caused Charlotte's mouth to slowly work its way back into her signature smirk. "Get the ship moving, pull to starboard, and make way. We need to look like we're leaving." He wandered over to the helm and began to steer, looking back at the docks, and the longboat.

Norrington was standing on the deck of the Interceptor, which was currently being moved out of the dock and onto the seas in search of Elizabeth. He was giving orders on the deck of the ship when Lieutenant Groves came up to him, holding his telescope tightly. "Commodore! You need to see this!" he said, thrusting the scope into Norrington's hands. Norrington placed his eye to it and followed Groves's directions.

There, heading in the direction of the Interceptor was a longboat filled with Gillette and the other members of the Dauntless's crew. He heard Gillette's voice bouncing across the ocean. "Sir, they've taken the Dauntless! They've taken the ship! Sparrow, Vaughan, and Turner- they've taken the Dauntless!" His arms were flailing about and pointing back to the Dauntless. Norrington followed this and- of course he saw Sparrow at the helm, giving Turner directions. Vaughan was nowhere to be seen.

"Rash, Turner, too rash. That is without a doubt the worst pirate I have ever seen," Norrington muttered. He heard Groves agree.

They cut through the water, and past the longboat. Norrington could hear Gillette scream, "Bring her around! Bring her around!"

"Here they come," said Will to Jack, looking over at the Interceptor, which was cutting through the waters with immense speed. 

Jack, pistol in hand, turned and saw the ship. He gave a small toothy grin. "Aye," he said.

Charlotte reappeared from below the decks carrying a large sack that looked as though it weighed a ton. She dropped it down on the deck and looked, "Now what?"

Jack gave her a suspicious look, before explaining. "We wait until all of their men are on this ship, and then we swing onto theirs." Jack mimed this all with his hands. "Once we do that, we cut all the ropes" he mimed snipping, "linking the two ships, and off we go." He flapped his arms once more, and turned to the pair, smiling. "Savvy?"

"Sure," replied Will.

"And now they are next to us," Charlotte commentated. She quickly dragged the sack with them, found a long length of rope and lassoed the other end to one of the larger pillars on the Interceptor. Jack and Will watched her carefully, "what do you think is in there?" Jack asked, pointing to the bulging sack.

"No idea," Will replied, equally as confused. The pair shared a look before hiding behind one of the larger pillars of the Dauntless. Charlotte joined them a moment later, her hands slightly red and out of breath. "What-" began Jack and Will.

"You'll thank me later," she replied, as they waited.

As Jack had predicted, Norrington hadn't left any of the men on the other ship. The deck was soon filled with soldiers. "Search every cabin, every hold, down to the bilges." The soldiers began to fan out, Norrington among them. Jack nodded, and quickly grabbed Charlotte's waist. The three of them quickly stepped onto the railing, and swung over onto the other ship.

The moment they landed, Will and Charlotte began to cut the ropes, and Jack quickly headed to the helm, guiding the ship forwards. The sack Charlotte had attached to the Interceptor tore through the railing of the Dauntless, swung high into the air, and landed with a loud think on the deck of the ship.

Norrington had heard the thunk and turned back to the Interceptor. "Sailors, back to the Interceptor! NOW!" They all ran to the side of the ship, and one man attempted to swing back over and landed in the water.

Jack turned to the Commodore and waved his hat, "That you, Commodore, for getting us ready to make way! We'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves!"

"Twenty shilling says Will, Jack, and I get Elizabeth back before you lot do!" Charlotte yelled from beside Jack.

"Agreed!" yelled Groves, which earned him a look of pure loathing from Norrington. "Set top sails, and clear up this mess."

Groves looked at him with disbelief, "With the wind at quarter stern, we won't catch them."

Norrington remained stony faced, "We don't need to catch them, just get them in range of the long nines."

Groves yelled out the Commodore's orders, "Hands, come about. Run out the guns." He turned back to Norrington, "We open fire on our own ship, sir?"

"I'd rather see her at the bottom of the ocean than in the hands of a pirate," Norrington said, resting on the railing surrounding the helm.

One of the sailors emerged from belowdecks, "Commodore, he's disabled the rudder chain, sir!"

"And all the cannonballs are gone!" said another.

The Dauntless was bearing down on Gillette's longboat, "Abandon ship!" he yelled, as they jumped into the frigid waters. The loud crunch was audible to both Gillette, and Norrington.

"That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen!" said Groves, looking at the shrinking Interceptor with amusement.

"So it would seem," said Norrington, thoroughly tired of Groves's admiration of a scallywag.

"How long until they realize I disabled the rudder chain?" Charlotte asked the other two men, who were also quite pleased with how things had gone.

"IS that what you were doing below?" Will asked, looking surprised.

"Took you an awful long time," Jack said, throwing an arm around her waist. "Now, going to tell us what's in the sack over there?" Jack nodded to the centre of the deck.

Charlotte smirked as she picked up Jack's hand from around her waist and walked to the bag. She undid the rope and out rolled hundreds of cannonballs. "Just in case," she replied, walking back to them.

"Are you sure you're not from family of pirates, love?" Jack said, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

"No, I'm not. Believe me, I'd know if I were." She sounded quite bitter, so Jack decided to change the topic. "What about you Turner?"

Charlotte looked up at Jack, "Now you've done it. He's going to tell you his life story, and seeing as I've heard part and lived most of it" she muttered, "I'm going to take a nap, seeing as I've been up for almost 48 hours."

Will nodded, "You've earned it." He gave her a quick hug before letting her go. "Thanks Charlotte, for everything."

"Thank me when we've saved Elizabeth," she replied, heading off.

Jack watched her go, trying to ignore the desire to join her in bed, but fought that desire off as he pulled out his compass and adjusted course.


	8. Chapter 8

Will began telling his story as he sharpened his sword. Jack tuned out for the beginning, but returned his attention to Will as the sun began to set, "… When I was a lad living in England, my mother raised me by herself. After she died, I came out here, looking for my father."

Jack looked at him, "Is that so?"

Will paused before beginning, "My father, Will Turner." He turned to face Jack, who had his eyes closed. "At the jail, it was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help. Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter." He stood up and walked over to Jack, "I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father."

Jack remained quiet for a moment before replying, "I knew 'im. Probably one of the few who knew him as William Turner. Everyone else just called him Bootstrap or Bootstrap Bill."

"Bootstrap," Will repeated, looking confused. That didn't sound like a sailor's nickname at all.

"Good man. Good pirate. I swear, you look just like him," Jack said quickly, giving Will a smirk.

Will's temper flared, "It's not true. He was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable man who obeyed the law."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "He was a bloody pirate, a scallywag."

"My father was not a pirate," Will insisted, pulling out his sword and pointing it at Jack.

Jack looked at the sword, then at Will, and back out to the sea, "Put it away, son. It's not worth you getting beat again."

"You didn't' beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd killed you."

Jack laughed, "Then that's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?" He paused before turning the wheel sharply to the left, causing one of the yards to catch Will, and swing him out over the sea. "Now, as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these- what a man can do, and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can.t But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday. Now, me, for example, I can let you drown but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onesy, savvy?"

He walked back to wheel, and turned it sharply to the right, moving the yard back so that Will could land on the ship. Jack picked up Will's abandoned sword and offered the handle to him. "So, can you sail under the command of a pirate? Or can you not?" Just then, Jack felt the cold steel of a blade at the small of his back. "Welcome back, love," he said.

"I wake up and the first thing I see is you hanging Will over the sea?" she replied, sheathing her sword. "Tortuga?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Jack, who turned to face her.

Will and she followed Jack back to the wheel, where he took his usual stance. "Tortuga," he nodded.

"How long till we get there?" Charlotte asked, looking at Will with concern.

"A day," Jack replied.

Charlotte nodded before looking at Will, "Get some sleep. You look dead on your feet right now. And there's no way you'd be able to take on a fish in a fight."

Will nodded and gave her a small kiss on the top of the head, "Alright, I'm going." She watched as he walked down the stairs and trudged below.

She and Jack remained quiet for a few moments before he spoke. "Now, I know Will's story, but what about yours love? There must be a few differences, aye?"

Charlotte stood on the other side of the wheel, opposite Jack. "It pretty much is the same story, but with a few different chapters."

"Come on love, what are those chapters?" Jack pressed; he knew it wouldn't take long for him to get the story. He watched as the night's winds whipped her hair around her face, but her eyes continued to shine, like treasure in the darkness.

Charlotte paused before speaking, "You tell me your story- the entire thing, and I'll tell you all of mine." She glanced back into the pitch black of the night, before facing him, "we have the time."

"You have an accord," said Jack, shaking her hand. "But you first," he added.

Charlotte smirked, "As I expected. Well, I was the second child born to John and Alice Beckett," she caught the look of shock in Jack's eyes, "I had an older brother, named Cutler. As in Cutler Beckett."

"You're related to Beckett?" Jack said, looking her up and down as he often did. "May I say that you two look absolutely nothing alike. Not that I can testify to that, but if you give me the chance to look a little more closely-" he stopped after catching the look on her face. "Sorry" he folded his hands, "continue, love.

"When I was five my house got raided, by . . . Pirates" she looked at Jack, who simply nodded. "They- uh- killed my parents. I don't really remember much, but there was a lot of blood. After that, I was in the charge of Beckett."

"Why don't you just call him your brother?" Jack asked innocently.

"As far as I'm concerned he is certainly not my family. He found a maid, brought us to Port Royal, where he got a job with the East India Trading Company. A few days after we'd gotten here, he turned to me and said 'I'll be back in a few days. Promise.'  
She paused, "that was over ten years ago. And over those ten years, I never got a single shred of evidence that he even remembered me. But I was a child, and like a child, I continued to write letters to him, until I realized there was no point. I stopped writing to him when I was ten. It was a complete waste of money, which I didn't have much of to begin with. So I took my mother's last name as my own, and made sure no one could make the connection. When I was thirteen, my maid died, and I raised myself. I got some help though, from Elizabeth, and her father Governor Swann. It was then that I met Will, and we became friends. I wasn't nobility, and I didn't have the hindrance of parents telling me what I could and could not do. So I took it upon myself to learn how to handle a sword, how to fight, and survive. Will and I would exchange tips, and spend most of our time together. We'd talk about how we would go out and see the world, but I always thought it would never happen for me. I'm a woman, so it wasn't seen as proper, I was supposed to be content sitting at home. But if the day ever came that I was offered that chance, I'd take it. And one day, Elizabeth fell off of a battlement, got saved by a pirate," here she nodded to Jack, "and you know the rest."

Jack was quiet for a moment, "But why did you come on this adventure. You said women were supposed to sit at home."

Charlotte shivered as the cold wind crept up her spine, "Ever since I got to Port Royal, I wanted out. I hated that island. I met Will and Elizabeth, who are practically my only family, but . . . I wanted to explore the world." She walked over to the railing, and looked at the pitch-black sea, her knuckles going white from the force with which she held the rail.

Jack left the wheel, and joined her, standing against her back and placing his hands over hers. "There's more to this, love" he whispered into her ear.

"I want to find my brother," she whispered.

"And when you do?" Jack asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

Charlotte turned around so the pair was face to face. She looked him in the eyes, "I'm going to kill him."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Bit over dramatic, don't you agree?" he asked.

Charlotte smirked, "This is coming from the man who carried around the same pistol with a single shot for ten years, vowing only to use it on the man who committed a mutiny against him." Her hair whipped around her face, but he was sure that she'd just winked at him.

Jack was shocked once more, "How do you know about that?" he whispered.

"People talk, Jack. And often times, they do so when others are present to listen," she replied smartly, resting her back on the railing.

Jack brushed Charlotte's hair behind her ear and smirked, "That is debatable. I talk to myself all the time."

"Yes, but you aren't exactly 'normal' Jack," Charlotte quipped. Jack placed his other hand on her waist and began to pull her towards him. She quickly slipped out from where Jack had pinned her by the railing, and walked over to the wheel, placing her hands on it, for the feeling of having something to do. "What about your story Jack? Surely there's some reason why you want to accompany us." She turned to face him.

He stood there for a few moments, simply staring at her before responding, "I have my reasons."

"And airing them out was part of our deal, remember?" she replied, giving him a knowing look. "And you'd better hold up your end of the bargain, before I do to you what you did to Will."

Jack looked down and noticed he was standing in the perfect position to get flung over the rail, like he'd done to poor William earlier that day. "Fine, have it your way then."

He sauntered over to her and shooed her out of the way, placing his hands on the wheel once more. She stood in front of the wheel as she'd done before. He paused and gave her a hard look before saying, "I tell you this in confidence."

"As did I," she replied with a curt nod, "Now spit it out Sparrow."

He smiled, looking past her shoulder. "My father is Edward Teague, keeper of the Brethren Code. I was born during a typhoon, and I grew up in a house full of outlaws at Shipwreck Cove. I was determined in following my father's footsteps, and wanted to become the captain of a ship. Which is why I insist on being called 'Captain'."

"I call you Jack, and you don't seem to mind," Charlotte said pointedly.

"Yes, well, different rules apply," he said hurriedly. "Anyway, I decided I had enough serving on my father's ship, so I ran away, because according to the Pirata Codex, I could do that." He gave her a toothy grin, before continuing, "I like to be thorough. I was a stowaway on a merchant ship to Tortuga-"

Charlotte interrupted, "We'll save some of your exploits in case we come though any downtime, but how is it you know my brother Jack. Word reached my ears many years ago that a certain Captain" here she nodded to him, "paid my brother great insult. How?"

Jack smirked, "A woman who likes to cut to the chase. How refreshing," he said. "Well, I was granted a ship called the Wicked Wench from your brother, after I refused to transport slaves. Your brother was the director for the East India Trading Company for West Africa. After a few years, I was sent on a trip, and during that trip I landed on an island that would had been enslaved by your brother, had I not refused to tell him its location. He found out, and claimed that I had betrayed him. In return, he forced me to carry slaves. I freed them on that same island, and when your brother caught me, I was tossed into prison. After a few months in a cell, your brother forced me to be branded with this," he raised his right forearm, and pushed the sleeve back so she could see the 'P' branded in his skin. "Eventually I was freed, managed to get my way back out and found the Wicked Wench, which I re-commandeered, and used to pick up a crew in Tortuga, to help me find the Isla de Muerta. Lo and behold, my first mate makes me give up the bearings, and orchestrates a mutiny against me. I was left on an island to die the very next day, with-" he pulled out his pistol, "one shot."

Charlotte stood there, absorbing the story, "Sounds completely horrible. And It thought I was trapped."

Jack smirked, "You were trapped on an island full of people, yet you felt alone." He walked round the wheel until he was next to her, "I was alone on an empty island, with a full mind."

"Damned either way," Charlotte murmured.

"Exactly," said Jack, with a faint smile. He quickly descended the stairs, and went below, leaving Charlotte alone with her thoughts for several minutes. She was just about to go check on him, when he returned, two bottles in hand. "Rum?" he asked.

Charlotte nodded; glad to have something to fill her empty stomach. Jack pulled the cork out with his teeth and passed her the bottle. She took a small sip and felt the liquid burn her throat, but warm her up instantly. In the amount of time it took for her to finish a quarter of the bottle, Jack had drank his and was pulling out yet another.

"How much rum do we have left?" she asked.

"Six or seven more bottles, besides these" Jack replied, leaning ever so slightly on the wheel.

"Maybe we- and that is to say you- ought to slow it down. We don't want to finish it all in one go. Just in case it takes us a little longer to get to Tortuga," she said, her voice tense.

"The tone in your voice makes me think you aren't remotely excited to go to Tortuga," Jack speculated.

She gave him a look, "It's all pirates."

"Your parents?" he asked.

"That and the fact that I've never met one. Except for you, of course," she stated plainly.

"Do you plan on going back to Port Royal if you manage to find your friend?" Jack asked suddenly, drawing nearer to her.

Charlotte bit her lip, "I- I haven't thought about what I was going to do. I've just been focused on getting Elizabeth back."

"Freedom's good love, but you have to be sure that you can handle all that comes with it. Including the company of pirates," he said, coming even closer.

Charlotte could smell the alcohol on his breath, "Maybe you should go lie down. I'll steer the ship." She watched Jack, but there didn't seem to be a difference in his movements, which made Charlotte debate whether he was always drunk, or was immune to rum.

Jack laughed, "Do you know which way we're going?" Charlotte shook her head, "Well, if you're steering then we're definitely going to have to ration the rum."

Charlotte looked outraged and amused, "Fine." She crossed her arms, "then teach me how to steer a ship, Captain."

Jack nearly spat out his rum,"You want to learn how to steer a ship?" he asked.

Charlotte nodded, "We have the time, it is a short course, and you don't seem to be drunk enough not to teach me."

Jack paused, his lips pursed. "I'll teach you, on one condition."

"What is that condition?" Charlotte asked, suspicious.

"You have to kiss me, agreed?" he replied, quite happy with his condition.

Charlotte nodded, "agreed." She walked up to him and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "You failed to specify where," she added, ignoring his confused look.

"You'd make a good pirate. Better than the whelp," he replied. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the wheel, placing her hands on the wheel, and his hands over hers. He rested his head on her shoulder and began giving directions. "Now, love, this is where it gets tricky."


	9. Chapter 9

**And here is yet, another chapter of this story. I must say, it is quite nice to write something other than Harry Potter, especially when it is something that I am equally as passionate about. I have a lot of papers due, and it's kind of hard to get all of my ideas out for each brand new chapter of the Marauder's Years, so this is nice, because there's already stuff to work with. It gives me something to do, and me readers something to read. Remember to review!**

When Will finally woke up and headed back upstairs he was surprised to see the close proximity between Charlotte and Sparrow. He didn't like it at all. Charlotte, while she was smarter and more independent than any woman Will had ever met, didn't seem to be bothered by Jack's lack of morals, not to mention that he'd constantly be objectifying her. In fact, she looked quite pleased with the amount of attention she got from Jack.

The pair were currently standing on the deck, as they had been the entire night. If Charlotte hadn't known any better, she would have been sure they were statues. She'd become quite accustomed to the feeling of Jack's dreads brushing her shoulders and his breath on her neck. She'd actually begun to enjoy the feeling if anything.

"So if the compass doesn't point North," Charlotte began, as Jack held it up for her to read, "what does it point to?"

He smirked in response, "If you play your cards right, love, I might just tell you one day."

"If we aren't dead before then," she corrected, guiding the ship along.

"That's oddly depressing, don't you think?" Jack replied conversationally. He spotted Will coming up the steps and quickly moved away from Charlotte, who shivered as her back was exposed to the slightly cold breeze. Jack nodded to him, "William."

"Jack, Charlotte," he said to the pair, "have you not you slept?" Will asked Jack, who's eyes showed signs of sleep deprivation

"I don't need sleep," Jack grinned, with such pride that one would think he had just announced he was the new King of England. "And you lot don't know where you're going, now do you?"

Will smirked before pulling out a map, "The sailors left their charts here, so I think we do." He placed them on the table by the helm and pointed at a small piece of land labeled Tortuga.

The three of them crowded around it, and Jack's grin disappeared, "Oh. Well," he straightened up. "Just keep going to the northeast love," he said to Charlotte, as Will produced a compass he'd found below. "I guess I will be heading to the Captain's quarters, then."

"Allow me to show you around your ship, Captain" Will said, holding an arm out towards the stairs.

"Ah, I don't think that will be at all necessary Turner," Jack said, eyeing him warily.

"Just go with him Jack," Charlotte said, from the helm.

"Fine," Jack grumbled before heading down the stairs with Will right behind him. The moment they had entered the captain's quarters, grabbed Jack by the arm. "If you do anything to Charlotte, I will kill you."

"What would be the point of killing me after I've done what it is that would hurt her?" Jack asked, giving Will a knowing look.

Will sighed before responding, "If you think about doing something, I will kill you."

Jack grimaced, "That would be preemptive and counterproductive. What if I think it before I lead you to your lass, eh? Who's going to take you to the Isla de Muerta?"

Will pulled out his hatched, "She's my best friend Sparrow, and I will not stand aside and let you continue to do as you please with her."

"Does it bother you?" Jack asked, looking at Will, who nodded. "Then maybe you should have made a move before I did, alright?"

"That's not- she isn't- I love Elizabath, Charlotte is like a sister to me," Will spluttered, looking slightly confused.

"Whatever you say, mate" Jack said, shooing Will out of his way and slamming the doors in his face.

Will took a moment to collect his thoughts before returning to the upper decks.

Jack was quite pleased to see all of the weapons and supplies the Navy had left in the room. He picked up a few guns, handled a few swords, before making his way to the large bed towards the back of the room.

He immediately noticed the sheets had been moved and there was a small dent in the centre of the bed. "Vaughan," he muttered, removing his shoes, pistol, sword, belt, and hat before flopping onto the bed, and finally feeling comfortable enough to sleep. He took a deep breath and was not at all bothered by the fact that the bed smelt of coconuts. "I always liked the beach," he muttered before falling asleep.

Will returned to the deck to see Charlotte examining both the map and compass. A piece of rope attached to the ringing kept the wheel in place as she read the charts. "How'd the tour go?" she asked Will, who came and stood beside her.

"Pretty well," he replied shortly, wondering how to approach the topic. "So, what did you do after I went to sleep?"

Charlotte paused, before deciding she could be a little open to Will about what the pair had discussed the previous night. "Just talked a bit."

"What did you talk about?" Will asked conversationally, looking at her for a tell.

"Nothing special. Just about Tortuga," she replied shortly, before heading back to the wheel.

"Anything else happen?" Will asked, hoping he hadn't pressed too hard.

Charlotte turned to face him. "If you want to ask something, you can just ask," she said plainly. "We've been friends for years," she added.

"Doesn't seem like all you did was talk," Will said quickly.

"What does it seem like we did?" Charlotte asked, looking directly at him, as if to say "speak freely or I shoot you."

Will paused, scratching his head. "It hasn't exactly been too long since he started . . . pressing flesh, if you know what I mean. He's a pirate Charlotte."

"I know what he is, Will," Charlotte said, her voice slightly strained. She knew from the moment Will offered a tour of the ship that he'd begun to suspect something was happening or was going to happen between herself and Jack. She wasn't surprised by Will's actions at all. In fact, she was grateful. She'd never had someone to look out for her, and she appreciated it. "But his company isn't as bad as you might think it is. He's a decent man, Will." She paused before saying her next words, "I spent years on an island with men, all of whom only had eyes for Elizabeth. For once, there is someone who looks at me, and it might just be because I am the only woman around, but it is nice to be seen as a woman, rather than as a 'friend.' You understand?"

Will nodded, "I'm sorry, it's just an odd sight. You never seemed like the kind of person to-"

"To what, Will? I dare you to finish that sentence," Charlotte said, with a smirk. Will knew she said it in a joking manner, but the truth was quite plain; don't push your luck, boy.

Tortuga was quite different than what Will and Charlotte had imagined. Guns were being fired, while men and women fought along the docks and into the small town. Bottles of rum littered the ground, along with pieces of clothing and weapons. Jack led them through the winding and packed streets. People were lying around, either unconscious or on the verge of being so. Women wandered around in dresses that exposed pretty much everything, which Charlotte didn't complain about, some women looked quite pretty. Gunfire rang out and more shouting was heard as bodies fell from the rooftops.

Jack looked around with a smile, as though he'd just come home after a long trip - which was probably true. "More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet, proliferous, bouquet that is Tortuga, savvy? So, what do you think?" he asked, turning to Will and I, his arms outstretched and smiling more than I'd seem him do before.

"It'll linger," said Will, looking around apprehensively.

"It's different," Charlotte suggested, as a man wandered by me and winked, before being hauled away by another woman.

"I'll tell you mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted," Jack said, turning around and making his was to a tavern. Just as he began to walk, a young woman with brown hair intercepted him. "Scarlett!" Jack said, opening his arms wide and smiling. She slapped him before stalking off, laving Jack holding his cheek and the pair behind him stifling their laughter. 'Not sure I deserved that." Just then another woman walked up, this time with blonde hair, "Giselle!" Jack cried with the same enthusiasm.

"Who was she?" she asked, nodding to the direction in which Scarlett had stalked off. "And who is this?" she asked, nodding to Charlotte who merely smiled.

"What?" asked Jack, looking as though he'd been caught. She gave him a disgusted look before slapping him across the face and turning away. "I may have deserved that," Jack said, rubbing his other cheek.

"May have?" Charlotte quipped from behind him.

Jack turned to her, "Enough questions, lets get going!" He led them into a tavern where they found a man lying in the mud amongst some pigs, clutching a roughly stitched teddy bear, and snoring away.

Jack eyed him for a moment before he and Will quickly filled two buckets of cold water. Jack was the first to throw the water at the man, causing him to jump up with anger. "Curse you for breathing, you slack-jawed idiot!" He rubbed his eyes and looked at Jack more closely, a look of recognition dawned his face. "Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. 'S bad luck."

Jack smirked, "Ah, fortunately I know how to counter it. The man who did the waking buys, the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."

Gibbs looked at him with confusion, as did Will. "Oh for god's sake," Charlotte said, turning to the older looking man, "Jack wants to buy you a drink, and in return you'll listen to his proposition."

The man paused before looking at Jack, who helped him up. "Aye, that'll about do it." Just then, Will tossed his bucket of water at the man, who growled, "Blast! I'm already awake!"

"That was for the smell," Will replied simply. The other three nodded and headed out of the tavern.

"So, who are you, young lady?" the man asked Charlotte, kissing her hand.

Jack quickly interrupted, "This is Miss Vaughan-"

"Charlotte," Charlotte interrupted. "And yourself?"

"Joshamee Gibbs, or Gibbs if you'd like," he replied giving her a wink. Will quickly stepped in between the two as they entered the tavern.

Jack quickly turned to the pair and said, "Keep a sharp eye. Especially with this one here," he nodded to Charlotte. "There are many men here who'd love your company, darling" he said, winking at Charlotte before passing her by. He bent down and whispered just so she could hear, "Myself included." She watched as he sat down with Gibbs at the table, her eyebrow raised.

"What did he say to you?" Will asked, looking down at Charlotte.

"Nothing," she replied. Suddenly, she felt a few of them men near her begin to draw closer, and she moved towards, Will, who immediately pulled her a little closer, and threw an arm around her shoulder. "Want to get something to drink?" she asked.

He nodded, and procured two bottles of run from god knows where and handed one to her.

Meanwhile, Jack and Gibbs were having quite the discussion at the table. "Now, what's the nature of this venture of yourn?" Gibbs asked, thanking him for the drink by taking a sip.

Jack paused, "I'm going after the Black Pearl." Gibbs began to choke on the rum, tears spilling from his eyes as the drink went down. Jack used this moment to say, "I know where it is, and I'm going to take it."

Gibbs recovered quickly, "Jack, it's a fools errand. Why, you know better than me the tales of the Black Pearl."

Jack nodded, "That's why I know what Barbossa is up to. All I need is a crew."

Gibbs nodded, "From what I hear tell of Captain Barbossa, he's not a man to suffer fools, nor strike a bargain with one." He ought to let Jack know what he was getting himself into, and suggesting that perhaps he ought not to go out on this adventure could only do this.

"Well, then I'd say it's a very good thing I'm not a fool then, eh?" Jack replied, with smile.

"Prove me wrong. What makes ye think Barbossa will give up his ship to you?" Gibbs asked, knowing Jack wouldn't even have such an idea unless he knew he had the upper hand for sure.

"Let's just say it's a matter of leverage, eh?" He said, nodding in Will and Charlotte's direction.

Gibbs looked at Jack, confused. "Huh?" Jack nodded to the pair once more. "The girl?" Gibbs asked. Jack shook his head and jerked his head again. "The kid?"

"That is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. His _only_ child, savvy?" Jack whispered, placing emphasis on the word only.

Gibbs's eyes opened wide, "Is he. now? 'Leverage' says you. 'I think I feel a change in the wind,' says I. I'll find us a crew. There's bound to be some sailors on this rock, crazy as you."

Jack smiled, "One can only hope. Take what you can . . " he raised his mug.

Gibbs clinked his tankard against Jack's, "… give nothing back." They drained their drinks, and turned towards the bar on the other side, their mouths falling open with shock.

Sitting at the bar, with Will lounging next to her was Charlotte. She was surrounded by men purchasing her drinks, some of which she passed to Will. Jack and Gibbs quickly got up and headed over. "I thought I told you to keep an eye on her," Jack said, eyeing Charlotte with interest.

"Oh, lighten up Jack," she said, passing him and Gibbs a bottle of rum each, before grabbing one herself. "I'm just breathing in 'this sweet, proliferous, bouquet'," she replied, causing Gibbs and Will to crack a smile.

Jack was about to say something, when he thought better of it. "Let's make a wager, love. You pass out after me; you get to order me around for a week. You pass out before me, I order you around for a week. Agreed?" he held out his hand.

Before Will could even stop Charlotte to tell her she'd never drunk in her life, she shook Jack's outstretched hand. He exchanged a surprised look with Gibbs, who merely smiled at Charlotte. "Daring lady, I must say," he remarked.

"Why thank you," Charlotte said, clinking her bottle against his.

Gibbs leaned in towards Will, "This is going to be a long night."

"It may just be one of many," Will replied as he watched Charlotte down an entire bottle of rum.

A fair few hours passed before Jack found his shoulder the new home for Charlotte's head. "Well, she's done. Lasted a lot longer than I expected though," he said, peering down at her face.

"I'll say," said Will, looking at Charlotte with pride. "I've never seen her drink before," he added.

Gibbs nodded with pride, "Head back to the ship, Captain?" he asked.

"That, is an excellent idea, Mr. Gibbs," said Jack, beginning to get up off the seat.

Will quickly rushed forward and carried Charlotte bridal-style out of the tavern and towards the docks where the ship was. They quickly boarded it, and Will headed into the Captain's quarters, placing Charlotte in the bed, knowing full well she'd fall out of the hammocks easily.

He quickly removed her shoes and pulled the sheets over her before returning to the deck, where Gibbs and Jack were discussing the plans for the next day.

"So, we'll pick up a crew and begin sailing," Jack said, with a final sort of tone. Gibbs nodded.

"I'll be heading off to the hammocks then," said Gibbs, bidding the pair goodnight, and headed down below.

"Where'd you put her?" Jack asked Will, turning to face him, as he opened yet another bottle of rum. He offered it to Will who declined.

"She's in bed," Will replied. Jack gave him a suspicious look, "I want going to put her in the hammock, she'd fall out easily. She's always been a bit clumsy," Will supplied.

Jack nodded, before heading up to the helm thinking that's where the maps were, forgetting he'd tucked them in the captain's quarters when they docked. "Alright then, I'm heading off," Jack muttered, turning on his heel and going back down the stairs.

Will followed closely behind, "Where to Jack?" he asked, as Jack turned down the hall and to the Captain's room.

"Well, I'm the captain, so where do you think?" He asked Will, taking a swig out of his bottle. Will opened his mouth, and Jack raised a hand, "Before you say anything, need I inform you that I have no interest in that friend of yours?"

Will grumbled, "fine," before heading to the opposite side of the ship where Gibbs was most likely snoring away.

Jack smirked at Will's stupidity, before heading into his room, shutting the door quietly before making his way to the desk facing the huge panel of windows. He placed the bottle of rum down, before removing his hat, pistol, sword, and several other things, leaving them strewn around the room before he sat down, unfurling the map and plotting out points, pulling out his compass every now and again.

Charlotte woke up with her head hurting as though a ship had just hit her. She squinted as light poured through the slightly parted curtains at the windows opposite her, allowing the light to spill onto the bed. Judging by the strength and direction of the beams, it was well past midday. Her eye flew open instantly, as she felt something behind her.

Turning ever so slightly, she saw Jack pressed up against her. She lifted up the covers slightly. While they were both still fully clothed, she could feel his arms wrapped round her waist, pulling her closer to him.

She laid there for a few more moments until she was fully awake before turning to face Jack, who's arms were still wrapped tightly around her. She flicked him in the middle of the forehead, thinking he too was probably suffering just as bad a headache as she was.

There was no response. "Jack?" she whispered, tapping him on the forehead a few times. "Jack" she said, louder. She paused, before placing a finger on his neck to check his pulse (a technique she'd read about in an Italian novel). She felt the blood pumping, and gently moved her hand down to Jack's chest, resting it over his heart.

Suddenly, Jack quickly rolled on top of her, his goatee and dreads tickling Charlotte's face. She felt him throw his weight on top of her, making her unable to breathe properly. "Get off of me," she said, pushing him aside.

He rolled back onto his side, facing her, his eyes wide open and a smirk on his face. "Hello, love. Have a nice sleep?"

She gave him an annoyed look, her head still pounding. "Fantastic," she replied sarcastically, turning to face him. "Yourself?"

Jack smirked, "When you've been drinking as long and as much as I have, you become quite numb to the side effects of drinking."

"I can tell," Charlotte grumbled, giving him a dirty look. "What happened?" she asked.

Jack grinned, "and so it begins. You got drunk, I challenged you to a drinking competition in which the one who passes out first is at the beck and call of the one who passes out last. Seeing as I was still conscious when young William brought you back to the ship, I won said wager."

Charlotte groaned, "I suppose things could have been worse."

Jack's smile disappeared, "I'm not entirely sure I know what you mean, love."

Charlotte smirked, "I could have accidentally slept with you. Thank goodness that did not happen, don't you think?" she began to roll out of bed, when Jack snaked his arm round her waist and pulled her back in against him.

"Offer's still on," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Does not mean I have to take it," she replied, moving his hand and getting out of bed. She stretched for a moment before beginning to fix her corset. Jack got up as well and attempted to gather his clothing as well, but found himself watching her with interest.

Charlotte shifted her corset around and retightened it, before realizing Jack was watching her. She turned and gave him a wink before looking around for her boots. She spotted them on the other side of the room and took a small step: her first mistake.

Clearly she ended up drinking way more rum that her body could handle, which resulted in dehydration. Her head began to spin and her legs, which were already quite weak, collapsed beneath her. Before she could hit the floor, Jack quickly caught Charlotte, placing her back on the bed and grabbing her boots. "Had a little too much, eh?" he smiled, as he got down and slid her shoes on for her.

She shrugged, "maybe, but tolerance comes with time, eh?" She paused, "Why are you being so nice?"

Jack paused as he laced up her boot, "I've always been a complete gentlemen love." He grabbed his effects from off the bed, "but I still won this bet, so . . ." he placed the items in her hands as she stood up.

"Of course Captain," she said coolly, bowing slightly before strapping the effects to Jack as she'd done in Port Royal.

As she placed his hat delicately on his head, Jack asked "What happened to 'be glad it's your head'?" he quipped, making fun of her.

She looked at him with interest as she pushed a few of his dreads behind his shoulder. "Well, I've become rather fond of this head, you see," she said quietly, resting both her hands on his shoulders.

Jack smirked, "Is that so?" he asked, leaning clos enough to be able to count the lashes on her eyes.

Just then the door swung open and Gibbs appeared, Will by his side. "I've got your crew, Captain" said Gibbs with a smile.

Jack shot him an annoyed look, and Gibbs's smile dissipated. Behind him, Will shot Charlotte an angry look, causing her to blush and quickly move away from Jack and towards the door. "Lead the way, Mr. Gibbs" said Jack, his tone slightly off and he followed the three of them out of the ship.


	10. Chapter 10

**Damn, this story is popular. I have no qualms about that.**

Elizabeth had barricaded herself in the room of one of the lower decks, refusing point-blank to leave. Occasionally, Captain Barbossa would drop by and place an apple on the table before leaving without a word.

It was probably the third night on the ship when Pintel and Ragetti, the pirates who'd chased her around her house entered the room, both holding on to a mass of burgundy cloth. She gave them a questioning look before Pintel spoke "You'll be dinin' with the captain. And he requests you wear this," he passed held the mass of fabric, which was part of a dress out to her.

She smirked, "Well, you may tell the captain that I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request."

Pintel grinned, "he said you'd say that. He also said that if that be the case, you'll be dining with the crew . . ." he watched Elizabeth's reactions, which bore no sign of a problem. "And you'll be naked," he finished with a smile, as Ragetti murmured "naked" with a laugh.

Elizabeth paused before snatching the dress out of their hands and raising an eyebrow.

Pintel looked as though she'd uttered the most horrible curse at him, "fine." The pair turned and sloped out of the room, Ragetti slamming the door behind him.

Elizabeth sighed, before putting the dress on. She found it was completely unlike anything she'd ever worn before. Not only was it extremely heavy and full, but the style was completely foreign. When she got to the corset she felt slightly sick to her stomach, thinking of the last time she'd seen her father, Will, and Charlotte.

 _They're probably looking for me right now, and I need to make sure that I manage to stay alive. Lord knows what these pirates are like._

She quickly changed, watching the door in case one of the pirates came barging in, but found herself uninterrupted. She headed to the door, and opened it ever so slightly, and found Pintel standing in front of the door. "Come on poppet," he said, leading her through the ship towards the Captain's lodgings.

Elizabeth was surprised to see the table filled with food, seeing as they hadn't docked anywhere since she'd been on the ship. She sat down on the opposite end of the table as a few of the other pirates began filling up her plate. Once they'd left, she began to eat daintily, keeping on form as she'd been taught.

Barbossa smirked, "There's no need to stand on ceremony, nor call to impress anyone. You must be hungry." He watched as Elizabeth tossed the silver aside, and pick up her food with her hands, much like she'd used to do when she was a mere child.

It was completely different, being off form. There wasn't any need for her to eat slowly. She quite enjoyed the feeling of her food in her hands. She watched as Barbossa poured her a goblet of wine as the ship tilted, "Try the wine" he said, offering it to her. "And the apples?" he said, picking one up from the bowl in the middle of the table, "one of those next."

Elizabeth eyed it suspiciously, before recalling astory she'd once heard about a green apple. "It's poisoned," she replied.

Barbossa smirked, "There would be no sense tobe killing ye, Miss Turner."

She paused, confused. "Then release me, you have your trinket; I'm of no further value to you," she stated plainly, hoping that was the case.

Barbossa dug a hand into his breast pocket, pulling out the medallion,"You don't know what this is, do ye?" he asked, watching her face closely.

"It's a pirate medallion," Elizabeth stated plainly- of that she was sure.

Barbossa shook his head, "this is Aztec gold. . . one of 882 identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortéz himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies." He paused before continuing, "But the greed of Cortéz was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold . . . a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for all eternity."

She thought hard on this information. She recalled a similar story that Charlotte had told her a few years back when they were in Charlotte's library. Elizabeth stifled a laugh, "I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa," she replied coolly.

Barbossa grinned, "Aye. That's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an Island of the Dead what cannot be found except for those who know where it is. Find it, we did." He stood up and paced around the room. "There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took 'em all. We spent 'em and traded 'em and frittered 'em away on drink and food and pleasurable company. The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize…the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed me Miss Turner. Compelled by greed, we were, but now we are consumed by it." He turned to the side and looked at the monkey, which was hanging on a perch, jumping up and down with a squeak.

Elizabeth watched him closely while hiding one of the heavier silver knifes in the folds of her dress.

"There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be resorted and the blood repaid. Thanks to ye, we have the final piece," Barbossa nodded to her with a smile.

"And the blood to be repaid?" Elizabeth asked nervously.

Barbossa grinned as he sat down on her other side, leaning in closely. "That's why there's no sense to be killin' ye . . yet." He offered her another green apple, "Apple?"

She paused before jumping up, and withdrawing the knife. Barbossa stopped, confused, and watched her attempting to run out of the room. He followed her quickly and managed to trap her by the doors, where she quickly spun around and buried the knife in his heart.

Elizabeth backed away, her hands over her mouth as she looked at what she'd done. "Oh no," she whimpered, waiting for him to fall. He merely smiled, and withdrew the knife from his chest, covered in blood.

"I'm curious- after killin' me, what was it you plannin' on doing next?" He watched as she ran out of the room, and onto the deck.

Elizabeth found the panic rushing to her head. All around her, bathed in the moonlight were skeletons, with decayed skin, and rotting clothes. She looked back at Barbossa who was coming out of the room. "Look! The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the living, and so we cannot die, but neither are we dead." She could feel the pain in his tone, "For too long I've been parched with thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died. I feel nothing- not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea, nor the warmth of a woman's flesh." He raised his hand to touch Elizabeth's cheek, and she watched in horror as his arm quickly rotted away, revealing bones. He continued to walk towards her, each step revealing more and more of his skeleton. "You best start believing in ghost stories Miss Turner. You're in one!" He pulled out a bottle of wine and uncorked it, before chugging it down.

Elizabeth watched in horror as the red liquid poured over his ribs and onto the deck. She let out a scream before running past him, and back into the room.

Barbossa threw the drink at the door and slammed them shut, before letting out a hearty laugh. The crew laughed with him before he cut the moment short, "What are ye looking at? Back to work!"

A few of the pirates looked behind them, "You heard the Captain, back to work!"

Jack followed Gibbs, Will, and Charlotte out of the ship and onto the docks of Tortuga, where there was a line of men. "Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot," he said with pride.

Will looked at Gibbs and back to Jack, "So this is your able bodied crew?"

Jack walked down the line, the other three scurrying along in his wake. He stopped suddenly ant turned to an older gentlemen with a yellow and blue parrot on his shoulder beard, blue bandana, and slightly rounded belly. "You, sailor!" Jack said, causing the man to jump and salute Jack.

"Cotton, sir" supplied Gibbs from behind Jack, reading off of a register.

"Mr. Cotton . . . do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" He waited for the man's reply. "Mr. Cotton! Answer, man!"

Gibbs waited a moment before stating, "He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out-" the man named Cotton opened his mouth wide, and the four of them peered in. His tongue was less than an inch long and scabbed where it had been cut. Jack backed away in disgust. "- So he trained the parrot to talk for him," Gibbs finished. He caught sight of Charlotte opening her mouth and quickly said, "No one's yet figured how." She dropped the subject, and looked to Jack.

Jack felt the trio's eyes on him and quickly turned to the parrot, "Mr. Cotton's. …Parrot. Same question."

The parrot squawked, "Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!"

Jack looked confused as Gibbs intervened once more, "Mostly we figure, that means 'yes'."

Jack nodded with a smile, "O'course it does," he turned to Will and Charlotte, "Satisfied?"

Will didn't miss a beat, "Well, you've proved they're mad."

"And what's the benefit for us?" said a feminine voice at the end of the line. They walked to the end and saw a short person wearing a huge hat. Jack peered at the figure, before taking off the hat, revealing a woman. "Ah, Anamaria," Jack said with a smile.

She quickly raised her hand and smacked him across the face, leaving a red mark under Jack's hand as he rubbed his face. "I suppose you didn't deserve that one either," said Will, causing Charlotte to smile.

"No, that one I deserved," Jack admitted, looking slightly unhappy.

Anamaria huffed, "You stole my boat." She said, pointing at him, anger vibrating off of her body.

"Actually-" Jack said, before she slapped him again. "Borrowed!" he yelled. "Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back to you."

"But you didn't!" she yelled.

"You'll get another one," said Jack quickly.

She pointed her forefinger at him, causing Jack to back away slightly, "I will."

"A better one," Will supplied.

"A better one!" Jack exclaimed.

"That one," Charlotte said, pointing to the Interceptor.

Jack looked around, "What one? That one?!" He turned to Charlotte who nodded back to Anamaria, "Aye, that one. What say you?"

Anamaria scratched her chin and looked at the ship before saying, "Aye!" along with the rest of the crew.

Cotton's parrot squawked once more, "Anchors aweigh," as they boarded the ship. Before she followed, Anamaria snatched her hat out of Jack's hand before placing it on her head and heading off to the ship.

"No, no, no, no, no, it's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir!" Gibbs exclaimed.

Charlotte let out a small cough, "excuse me?" she asked, her hand resting on the handle of her sword as she looked at Gibbs threateningly.

Jack quickly stepped between the pair, placing a hand on Charlotte's shoulder, "It's be far worse not to have them." He walked by and boarded the ship after the crew.

Charlotte turned to Gibbs and raised an eyebrow before following Jack. Gibbs turned to Will, "She good with that blade?" he asked.

Will smiled, "You've no idea."


	11. Chapter 11

They'd only been sailing for a few hours when the crew has spotted a storm on the horizon. "Are we going to sail through that?" Will asked Jack, who merely opened the compass.

The needle spun around and stopped pointing to the left before it pointed towards the storm. "Yes," he replied simply, before tucking the compass away and continuing to steer. TO the left of Jack, standing by the table covered with maps, was Charlotte.

Will wandered over to her, realizing they hadn't spoken in about a day. "What are you looking for?" he asked, as she traced a line through the map, halting in the middle of the ocean.

"I don't know," she muttered, looking past his shoulder and to the storm behind him. "Passing through it?" she asked, Will, who sighed before nodding. "Makes sense, the winds will propel us forward."

"Trust Jack to send us through a storm to get a little closer," Will grumbled, looking down at the map, his eyes resting on the small land labeled "Port Royal."

"We'll be closer to getting Elizabeth, Will. That has got to count for something," she replied dully.

"Are- are you alright Charlotte?" Will asked, noting that her tone was somewhat dull, and she looked slightly troubled and disappointed.

She sighed, "Once we get Elizabeth back, it's all over. We're going to have to head back home."

Will paused before connecting the dots, and realizing why Charlotte had been so excited to go gallivanting with pirates when they'd broken Jack out of prison. "You don't want to go back, do you?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

Charlotte didn't say anything for a few minutes, and just when she was about to, Jack interrupted. "Rum, love," he said, pointing at Charlotte.

"I'd love some, Captain. Thanks for asking," she said wittily, placing a strained smile on her face as she gave Will one last look before heading down the steps and into the cellar below.

Will walked back over to Jack, "Ordering her around? Really?" He asked, somewhat angrily.

Jack smirked, "She's a woman of her word, mate. She lost a bet, and so she has a debt to repay, and who would I be to allow her to break her word, eh?" he finished with a smirk.

"Rum better be the only thing she's giving you Jack, mark my words," Will said, before turning back to the storm, which was steadily drawing closer. "How far away are we?" he asked.

Jack turned to the maps, waving his hand over the entirety of the ocean. "Close," he said, before heading back to the wheel, where Charlotte was already waiting, with a fair few bottles of rum.

Jack picked one up and took a swig. "Ah, much better, thank you love." And as though he'd just spotted the storm brewing ahead, he called out to the rest of the crew. "You might want to save your strengths and have something in your bellies, eh?" he pointed towards the storm, and heard the grumble of the crew.

Anamaria and Charlotte began to have an animated discussion, concerning Anamaria's past dealings with the Captain.

"So he stole a ship from you?" Charlotte asked the woman, as she passed her a bottle of rum.

Anamaria uncorked it, "No, it was a dinghy. But it was still mine."

"When did this happen?" Will asked, joining the pair, who were leaning against the railing on the starboard side.

"A few months back. Came round my place for a few days, and one morning I woke up to see my boat gone. No note, nothing," she said angrily.

Charlotte and Will exchanged looks, taking a step back incase Anamaria began slapping people again. "But you have to admit, this is better than a dinghy," Charlotte said, with a smile.

"It is, but that does not mean I cannot still be angry with him," she said, drinking the rum with a scowl. "How about you two? Why are you here?"

"Our friend was kidnapped and Jack's helping us find her because we broke him out of prison," Charlotte summarized. A few of the nearby crew eyed her warily, "what?" she asked.

"You broke a man out of prison?" said the short pirate named Marty.

"Yes," replied Charlotte with a mixture of pride and suspicion in her voice as she eyed Marty. "Why?"

Marty opened his mouth as though he were about to say something, but had thought better of it. Gibbs quickly appeared and placed a grimy hand over Marty's mouth. "Yes, well, it is uncommon to see a woman break the rules. Especially a woman such as yourself," Gibbs added with a smile.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Charlotte replied with anger. Anamaria merely smirked and continued to drink away while Will placed a hand on Charlotte's shoulder, while looking at Gibb's as if to say "back away slowly."

"Let's just go for a little walk belowdecks," Will said to Charlotte, pulling her away from the group. She gave Gibbs another look before turning around and following Will.

At the helm, Jack was watching her with interest. He pulled out the compass as he drank his rum. He watched the arrow spin around quickly before it pointed towards the deck. He followed it's head, which was pointing to the group of crew members on the deck. Suddenly, the arrow began to move, as Will dragged Charlotte away from the crew and below.

Jack's eyes widened as the compass continued to point towards where the pair were. _I'm not overly fond of the whelp,_ Jack thought as he continued to sip upon his rum. _But the girl . . . she is something,_ he thought.

Before he could lament on this thought the ship was buffeted forwards by a large gust of wind. "Break's over!" Jack yelled to the crew, who quickly finished the last remaining gulps of rum, before heading to their stations. Will and Charlotte remerged and began to help set up the canvas and lower the sails.

Jack quickly rolled up the maps, and tucked them away, while refocusing his thoughts on the Isla de Muerta.

When the storm had finally come down, Charlotte and Anamaria found themselves constantly being rebuked by the other pirates, who insisted they had no business being here. The pair ignored this and continued to go around the ship, securing masts and making sure that nothing valuable fell off the ship. The ropes quickly cut both of the women's hands, and they found it slightly hard to keep ahold of the ropes.

Huge waves rolled over the ship, washing them from side to side as they cut through the storm. Charlotte and Anamaria flew back once more. Charlotte managed to narrowly avoid hitting her head on the canon behind them, but Anamaria was not so lucky.

Charlotte quickly grabbed the woman and hoisted her up. Cotton noticed this, and the pair quickly took her below and placed her in a hammock, the ship causing them to fall and stumble as they went. Cotton quickly returned to the deck, while Charlotte cleaned up the small cut on Anamaria's head. A small bruise was beginning to form, but it did not look to serious.

She quickly returned to the upper deck once more, and found half of the crew being swept aside by the winds. As she moved forwards to help them up, Jack called for her to join him at the helm.

She peered up through the heavy rain and saw his figure, illuminated for a quick second by a flash of lightening. Charlotte quickly ran towards the helm, and clambered up the slippery steps. "What is it, Jack?" she said, forgetting she was obliged to call him "captain."

Jack ignored this and moved aside, "I need you to take the wheel, the bloody compass keeps slipping out of my hands." He quickly stepped aside and Charlotte took the wheel, taking directions from Jack.

She squinted through the rain, and managed to see the red dial swinging round haphazardly. "Are you sure it's working?" she asked, looking up at Jack, who grinned.

"It's working," he replied shortly, giving it a little shake as he gave her directions. Just then, an enormous gust of wind caused Jack to quickly grab the wheel as well. "You might want to hold on to something," she replied, with a slight laugh, as Jack gave her an annoyed look.

"Well, I just might," he replied with a smile, wrapping a hand around her waist.

Will and Gibbs were on the deck, pulling ropes back, attempting to drop canvas. "How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?" he yelled to Gibbs over the rain, as they secured the mast.

Gibbs looked up at Jack, and back to Will, "Aye the compass doesn't point north, but we're not trying to find north, are we?" Gibbs headed up the stairs with Will in his wake, "We should drop canvas, sir!" he yelled.

Jack smirked as he gave directions to Charlotte, who turned the wheel sharply to the left, "She can hold a bit longer." He continued to look straight ahead, rather than at Gibbs or Will.

"What's in your head that puts you in such a fine mood, Captain?" Charlotte yelled from beside Jack.

"We're catching up!" he replied with a wide smile, as Charlotte steered the ship roughly to the right.

After about two hours trapped in the arms of the vicious storm, they managed to pull through the other side. The sailors gave a cheer as they each relaxed ever so slightly.

"We should let the crew get some sleep, it's been quite a rough night," Charlotte said to Jack as she moved away and allowed him to take the wheel.

"Aye," he said, shutting the compass and looking out to the deck where the pirates were scattered. "Gents, get some rest!" he yelled, as they gave a cheer and headed to the hammocks. Will paused before heading towards Charlotte, "You coming?" he asked.

She looked at Jack from the corner of her eye and said, "You go ahead. Just check on Anamaria for me, make sure she's not still bleeding."

Will nodded at the pair before following the other pirates below, praying there was still one empty hammock.

"Not tired yet, love?" Jack asked with a smirk, as the sun began to rise on the horizon.

She leant back on the rail in front of him, silhouetted against the sunlight, her soaked hair flying around her face. "No, not yet," she replied with a small smile.

"Young William seems to have quite the penchant for threatening me, you know," Jack said conversationally.

Charlotte cocked an eyebrow, "Is that so?" She asked.

Jack nodded with a large grin, "he seems to be suffering under the delusion that I am attempting to woo you with my charming good looks and kind nature," he said with a wink.

Charlotte smirked, "If I was interested in you, Jack, you would know."

Jack smiled, "And pray-tell, how would I know?"

Charlotte looked thoughtful for a moment, "If I did like you Jack, I would have done something about it by now," she finished with a wink, before turning around to look at the sunrise. Jack pulled out the compass and checked the bearings, once again it flickered towards Charlotte, and then ever so slightly to the south, "It is quite beautiful. The sea, don't you think?"

Jack tied a rope around the wheel, holding it in place as he joined her at the railing, "that is debatable." He chanced a glance at her, "I've seen better."

Charlotte scoffed, "But of course you have. You've been pretty much everywhere, haven't you?"

Jack merely grinned, "Pretty much." They stood in silence until the sun had completely risen. "Think we ought to get some sleep," Jack said as they headed down to wake up the crew. "Gibbs, on the wheel," Jack ordered, as they weaved their way to the captain's quarters.

Charlotte stopped as they approached the door, hesitating slightly. Jack noticed this, and turned to her. "What? Don't you trust me, love?" he asked.

She smirked, "You're a pirate. What do you think?" She replied before following him in. The room was as they'd left it before, with the curtains drawn and the sheets in slight disarray. She quickly removed her shoes and loosened her corset ever so slightly before lying down on the bed and breathing in a sigh of relief having made it through the storm.

Jack quickly removed his effects and shoes before clambering into the bed next to her, his dreads whacking her face as he moved. "Sorry, love" he said with a smirk, as she picked off of her face and threw it back into his.

"Goodnight Jack," she said, turning so that her back was to him. She flipped her long locks, which landed on Jack's face.

"Do you really want to go toe to toe with a pirate?" he asked, with a devilish tone.

She turned back to him, "Why the hell not," she replied with a smile.

Jack turned to face her properly, "Any thoughts on what you're going to do after the retrieval of the whelp's lass?" he asked.

Charlotte's smile disappeared quickly, "Not a single clue." The worry that usually sat in the farthest corners of her mind was quickly brought to the forefront.

"I can tell you've given yourself an ultimatum-" he noted Charlotte's look and continued "I can see it in your eyes."

"Really? My eyes?" she asked, with skepticism.

"I'm very intuitive when it comes to the deepest thoughts of the female creature," he said with pride.

"Judging by the encounters you've had with women in the past 48 hours, I highly doubt that," she replied, running an agitated hand through her hair before letting it fall on her face.

Jack moved closer, and brushed the tendrils away so he could see her properly, "You've yet to be on the receiving end of my charm, love."

"Wait, there's more?" she asked, feigning shock. "Oh, how will I ever be able to resist your attempts Jack?" she threw a hand to her forehead for added dramatic effect. She looked to the side and saw him grinning, before he moved closer, his arm snaking its way around her waist and pulling her towards him.

"Love, any attempt of resistance would be futile. Those encounters should have taught you that," he rolled over so he was now hovering above her, their faces dangerously close.

Charlotte felt her heart beginning to race, but managed to keep a level head, rather than letting Jack's words and current position cloud her judgment. "As much as I would love to continue this conversation Jack, I'm extremely tired, and I would probably pass out from lack of sleep before you get into your element. Savvy?" She watched Jack's grin widen into a legitimate smile as she quoted him, before pushing him off of her, and rolling away from him, her eyes closing.

Jack was quite surprised that he hadn't managed to engage Charlotte physically yet. He found himself getting quite nervous with her, which resulted in bolder steps to get in her good graces. While he was annoyed with their constant banter, and the lack of a straight answer from Charlotte, he was glad she was being slow in her advances. It meant there was more fun for the remainder of the journey, that is, until he got the Pearl back. But for some odd reason, he found the acquisition of the Pearl becoming less and less appealing, but he didn't know why. _"Do I want her to come with me?"_ he asked himself, unable to fall asleep. Every now and again, he would look towards Charlotte's body. But her breathing hadn't slowed down, and he knew she was still awake.

Charlotte attempted to fall asleep but found herself lying in bed, her eyes closed, but her mind and heart racing fast. _"I don't fancy him, do I?"_ She thought. She waited for the sound of Jack's snoring to fill the room, but in the hours before they got up and headed back to the helm, they never came.


	12. Chapter 12

**OMG, that last review with the translation killed me! I NEVER laughed so much. In terms of the wording, I kept it close to what Charlotte would have been thinking in that time period. I wasn't sure what words to use to convey that, so I just went with "Fancy" cause why the hell not?**

Elizabeth was sure she was never going to make it back to Port Royal, and spent the majority of her time in her barricaded room making a mental will. She was shocked out of her dedication of all her dresses to Charlotte by the arrival of Pintel, who opened the door just a sliver, the only light coming from his few golden teeth, "Time to go, Poppet."

Elizabeth stood up, her legs felt quite weak beneath her, but she maintained her stance and walked gracefully to join the crew on the deck.

The heavy mist, which blinded her vision, startled her allowing her to only see a few feet ahead. Barbossa stood tall against the fog, the monkey gripping onto his shoulder where she'd stabbed him a few days ago. He pulled out the medallion, as Ragetti tied her hands together. She said nothing as Barbossa latched the medallion around her neck. "Now what?" she asked hesitantly.

The pirates smirked as they made their way into the longboats, forcing her to sit down, as they paddled into a small cave, just visible on the exterior of the Isle.

Charlotte and Jack said nothing to one another as they got ready and headed to the top decks. The moment they reached it, they saw the heavy mist, causing Jack to smile widely and rush to the helm, where he relieved Gibbs. Charlotte hesitated before asking, "We're here, aren't we."

Jack looked at her and Will, "Aye."

Gibbs motioned for the pair to join him by the railing. "What is it?" Will asked, peering out into the mist.

"Look down," he said, gesturing to the water below. The three looked and saw the hulls, masts, and other parts of wrecked ships. The rest of the crew joined them, looking positively aghast as they passed hundreds of wreckages. "Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage," Gibbs said.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow and looked to Will, "Honest?" she mouthed, causing him to smirk. He looked past her shoulder at Jack, who quickly closed the compass as Cotton started between the two over his shoulder.

"How is it that Jack came by that compass?" Will suddenly asked Charlotte, who shrugged.

She turned to Gibbs and raised an eyebrow, "Any ideas Master Gibbs?"

Gibbs smiled before sitting down, and gesturing to the pair to join him. "Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta. That was before I met him, back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl."

Will looked shocked, and Charlotte remembered that she too was not supposed to know about Jack's past. "What?" she asked.

"He failed to mention that," Will grumbled, looking over his shoulder at Jack, who continued to steer.

Gibbs grimaced, "Well he plays thing closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was." Will and Charlotte looked intrigued. She knew that Jack was mutinied upon as well as being marooned on an island, but he never went in-depth as to how that occurred. "See three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

Will nodded, "so that's the reason for all the . . ." he mimed stumbling around and waving his hands in a similar fashion to Jack. Charlotte stifled a laugh, as Gibbs turned to Will with a sour expression.

"Reason's got nothing to do with it. Now you two, when a man is marooned he is a given a pistol with a single shot – one shot. Well it won't do much good hunting or to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol will start to look _real_ friendly." Gibbs mimed putting a gun to his head, "but Jack – he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate."

"Barbossa," the pair replied simultaneously.

"Aye," replied Gibbs.

"How'd Jack get off the island," Charlotte asked, remembering that she'd never bothered to ask Jack that day.

Gibbs smiled, enjoying the attention, "well, I'll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows and there he waited three days and three nights till all manner of sea creature 'came and acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft."

Will looked confused, "he roped a couple of sea turtles," he repeated.

"Aye, sea turtles," Gibbs said with pride.

"What did he use for rope?" Charlotte asked, noticing the discrepancy Will had.

Gibbs looked confused, looking above Charlotte and Will's heads. Charlotte closed her eyes as she and Will turned around, knowing perfectly well what was behind them.

Jack stood, his hands on his hips, eyeing Will with distaste. "Human hair . . . from my back," he said slowly. He turned to Gibbs, "Let go of the anchor."

The crew around them yelled, "Let go of the anchor, sir!"

"Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore," Jack said, turning around and heading towards the longboats.

Will stood up, following Jack. Charlotte quickly followed the pair as well, "I'm coming with you," she said.

Jack turned around, "No."

"Yes," replied Charlotte forcefully.

"You are most definitely not coming Charlotte, it's too dangerous," said Will, which shocked both Charlotte and Jack.

"Excuse me?" she said, blinking in disbelief.

Jack turned to her with a grin, "You heard the whelp. You're not coming, it's simply too dangerous for you."

Charlotte quickly ducked around Jack's outstretched arm and blocked their path to the longboats as she unsheathed her sword. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, as you should both know by now."

Jack walked around her blade until they were separated by only a few inches. "Fine love, you can come. But when something happens to you-"

"If something happens to me. I can handle a blade better than yourself, Jack," she whispered coolly so only Jack could hear, sheathing her sword and grabbing the other rope to help Will lower it.

Gibbs quickly made his way to Jack's side, "Captian! What if the worst should happen?"

Jack paused as he looked at the pair waiting for him, "Keep to the code."

"Aye, the code" Gibbs muttered in agreement, as he left Jack to join the rest of the crew.

Elizabeth had had quite enough of pirates for a lifetime. She'd been starved, hauled around, threatened, and worst of all, been forced into a horrible dress for their amusement. But she could not deny her eyes brightened as she saw the caves of the Isla de Muerta filled to the brim with treasure of all sorts. Wonderful pearls, large golden vases, and huge gems glittered around her as the pirates led her through various tunnels and into the centre of the caves. There, atop a large pile of treasures, was a solid gold chest, illuminated by a beam of moonlight. Water covered the floor, enough such that the island looked ready to sink.

Barbossa hauled her off to the top of the pile, in front of the chest as the other pirates stood below, their faces filled with excitement. Elizabeth looked down at the medallion hanging around her neck, and suddenly remembered the blood sacrifice. That is why she was here, but they did not know she was not the true owner of the golden coin. It was only a matter of time before they would realize she had played them for fools, and no one was coming to her rescue. She was alone.

She watched quietly, her mind working on a plan that would allow her to escape before the medallion was placed back in the chest, but her thoughts were marred by the noise of the pirates retuning all the precious treasures they had taken from the Island before.

"Ten years of hoarding swag," said Pintel as he and Ragetti lifted a large trunk, preparing to empty it.

"And now we finally get to spend it," Ragetti finished, as they turned the trunk over. The lid flew open and out spilled a pile of women's clothing. Elizabeth stifled a laugh, as she watched the pair become discouraged, as they picked up two parasols.

"Once we're quit of the curse, we'll be rich men. And you can buy an eye what actually fits and is made of glass," said Pintel, looking at Ragetti's spinning wooden eye with sympathy.

"This one does splinter something terrible," he replied dulcetly, rubbing it.

"Stop rubbin' it!" Pintel said, pushing Raggetti's hand away from his face. Just then the Bo'sun wandered by, stopping to look at the pair before rolling his eyes. Ragetti twirled the parasol in his hand, and watched the Bo'sun leave, before getting him by the one in Ragetti's hand.

Will and Charlotte remained quite subdued as they rowed through the mist and into the caves. Will looked down and saw a skull lying along the shore, "What code is Gibbs to keep to if the worst should happen?" he asked, as the thought plagued his mind.

"Pirates Code. Any man that falls behind . . . is left behind," Jack stated blandly.

"No heroes amongst thieves, eh?" Will replied rather dully.

Jack rasied an eyebrow, "You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to becoming one." Both Will and Charlotte raised an eyebrow, and waited for Jack's justification. "Sprung a man from jail," Jack counted on his fingers, "commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga . . ." he stopped and watched as Will eyed a pile of gold beneath the water, "and you're completely obsessed with treasure."

They heard the boast hit the shore, and Jack helped Charlotte out, leaving Will to tie it to the docks. They crept through the small paths, deeper into the tunnel. "That's not true" said Will, as he caught up to them. The pair were standing atop a large rock, peering through a gap in between the wall. "I am not obsessed with treasure," he added, stepping onto the rock and peering in on the gathering.

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate," said Jack, nodding towards the gathering.

Will followed Jack's eyes and saw, standing atop a mass of gold and silver, behind a large golden chest; "Elizabeth." Clad in a dark red dress, her hands bound tightly, and a look of intense apprehension on her face.

Next to her, an older man wearing a feather-y hat and a scraggly beard began to make a speech to the pirates below him. "For ten years we've been tested and tried, and each man jack of you has proved his mettle a hundred times over and a hundred times again!" The men all cheered in response.

"Suffered I have!" cried Ragetti.

Barbosse nodded in agreement. "Punished, we were. The lot of us- disproportionate to our crimes! Here it is-" he kicked the lid of the chest back, and Elizabeth shuffled back before the lid hit her feet. Barbossa bent down and ran his fingers over the hundreds of coins in the chest. "The cursed treasure of Cortes himself. Every last piece that went astray, we have returned . . . save for this-" he pointed to the coin dangling around Elizabeth's neck.

Will quickly moved, attempting to launch him to her rescue, knocking over a pile of coins in the attempt. Jack quickly grabbed him and held him back. "Jack!" he said, turning towards him, with anger.

Charlotte pulled Will back, knowing there must be a reason why Jack did not want them to reveal themselves yet. "Not yet," Jack said. "We wait for the opportune moment," he said to the pair.

In their silence, the trio heard Barbossa say, "881 we found, but despaired of ever finding the last!"

"When's that? When it's of greatest profit to you?" Will replied scathingly.

Jack turned to him with a grin, "May I ask you something?" Will nodded. "Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me? Now, do us a favour- I know it's difficult for you, but please stay here and try not to do anything stupid." Jack turned around and scurried away.

Will waited till he was out of sight before he turned to Charlotte. "What do we do now?"

"We get Elizabeth of course!" she replied. "Quick, grab one of the oars." Will did as he was told and they followed Jack through the tunnels.

"And who among us has paid the blood sacrifice owed to the heathen gods?" Barbossa yelled, riling up the pirates.

"US!" they cried in response as they brandished their weapons.

"And whose blood must yet be paid?" Barbossa asked.

"HERS!" they responded, pointing at Elizabeth who began to sweat.

Barbossa approached her and pulled out the same knife she'd used to stab him. He pushed her down, so she was hunched over the chest, "You know the first thing I'm going to do after the curse is lifted? Eat a whole bushel of apples," he said with a laugh. He took up the knife, and Elizabeth braced herself. "Begun by blood . . . by blood undone!" he cried.

Will and Charlotte tiptoed around a bend and saw Jack prepared to reveal himself to the other pirates. Will quickly whacked him over the head with the oar, "Sorry Jack. I'm not going to be your leverage." He passed it to Charlotte who stood guard as Will headed into the cave behind Elizabeth.

Barbossa placed the coin in Elizabeth's hand and swiftly ran the blade across her palm, cutting her flesh like a ribbon. She looked up at him, "that's it?"

He smiled in response, "waste not." He bent her hand back, causing the blood to cover the medallion before forcing her to drop it. The cave was silent as the medallion clicked upon those beneath it.

The pirates all closed their eyes, the anticipation building as they waited to see if it had worked. Elizabeth prepared herself as she knew what the result would be.

Koehler was the first to speak. "Did it work?" he asked.

"I don't feel no different," said Ragetti with disappointment.

Pintel nodded, before turning to Barbossa, "How do we tell?"

Barbossa rolled his eyes before pulling out his gun and shooting Pintel in the chest.

"You're not dead!" Koehler said with anger.

"No!" said Pintel, his voice quivering before going back to normal, "he shot me!" pointing to Barbossa.

"It didn't work," said Ragetti, his voice filled with disappointment.

"The curse is still upon us!" Twigg shouted as the other pirates yelled.

Barbossa turned to Elizabeth, as he picked up the medallion from the chest and brandished it in her face. She smiled as he approached her. "You! Maid! Your father, what was his name?" he asked angrily. "Was your father William Turner?"

"No," Elizabeth replied defiantly, prepared for the consequences.

Barbossa turned bright red, "Where's his child? The child that sailed from England eight years ago, the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner! Where?" Elizabeth gave a slight shrug and smirk, before Barbossa whacked her hard across the face. She fell down and rolled to the bottom of the pile, behind the chest and out of sight of the other pirates.

The Bo'sun turned to Pintel and Ragetti, as did the other pirates, "You two brought us the wrong person!"

"No!" cried Pintel, "She had the medallion. She's the proper age!"

Ragetti joined him, "she said her name was Turner- you heard her!" he yelled in response as the other pirates closed in on the pair.

Will swam behind the pile that Barbossa was standing on and raised his head out of the water as he approached Elizabeth, who's eyes were closed. He placed a hand over her mouth, the water appeared to wake her up. She eyes opened wide in shock, and he felt her mouth his name against his hand. He raised a finger to shush her before motioning for her to follow him. She nodded but not before picking up the medallion, which had conveniently fallen next to her. Together they headed out of the cavern, through the tunnels and into one of the longboats, Will rowing the pair of them quickly towards the Interceptor.

"I think she lied to us," Ragetti continued to explain as the pirates continued to yell at them.

"You brought us here for nothing!" Twigg said, turning to Barbossa, and brandishing his sword.

Barbossa pulled out his own in response, "I won't take questioning and no second guesses, not from the likes of you, Master Twigg."

Koehler groaned, "Who's to blame? Every decision you've made has lead us from bad to worse!" he yelled at Barbossa, as the crew nodded in agreement.

Another one of the pirates yelled, "It was you who sent Bootsrap to the depths!"

"And it's you who brought us here in the first place" cried the Bo'sun.

Barbossa screwed up his face in anger, "If any coward here dare challenge me, let him speak! Hmm?"

Koehler paused before saying, "I say, we cut her throat and spill all her blood, just in case!" The pirates all nodded and cheered in agreement.

Just then, the small monkey began to squeal and point to the exit of the cave. Barbossa's eyes opened wide as he looked behind him, where Elizabeth had fallen. "The medallion!" he yelled to the other pirates, "she's taken it! Get after her, you feckless pack of ingrates!"

The pirates began to spread out all over the caves and towards the boats.

In the meantime, Charlotte who'd realized that Will had been gone for a while had begun to look for him, leaving Jack lying unconscious on the ground. She heard the ruckus and had deduced that Will had taken Elizabeth and headed towards the boats. As she bolted through the caves towards where they were docked she ran into something.

"Oi!" it said.

She looked up and saw Jack, holding an oar and rubbing his head. "Oh, it's just you," she said, as she walked past him and towards the boats. "Where's Will?"

She heard Jack scoff, "Love, I've been unconscious for I don't know how long. How would I know where the whelp is?"

She shook her head and turned to the boats. None of the oars were present and one of them was missing. She stopped dead in her tracks, and felt Jack bump into her back. "He's gone," she whispered. "I cannot believe he forgot about me!" she said angrily.

Jack placed a hand on her shoulder, "Maybe he didn't forget you. Maybe he just doesn't like you?" he suggested.

Charlotte turned around and grabbed the oar from him, ready to whack him over the head again. Just then, she heard the pirates coming down the tunnel, "Hide!" she said, grabbing Jack by the arm and leading him off into a small tunnel.

The pirates walked past them and to the boats. "No oars. Where's the oars?" shouted one pirate.

"The oars have gone missing. Find them!" the Bo'sun yelled, as he headed back down the tunnel.

Ragetti turned to the side and spotted Jack, "You!"

"You're supposed to be dead!" said Pintel, pointing at Jack, who sauntered out of the hiding place, dragging Charlotte with him.

"An I not?" he asked, looking down at himself, completely disoriented. Charlotte groaned and covered her face in embarrassment. The pirtaes pulled out their guns and pointed them at him. Jack turned around and saw the same on the other side. "Oh," he turned to Charlotte who was completely mortified. He turned back to Pintel, "palulay . . . palu- ll-la-la-lulu, parlilli…." He closed his eyes and began to count out words as Charlotte stood behind him, grimacing. "Parsnip, paslet, partner, partner . . ."

"Parley?" suggested Charlotte warily from behind Jack.

"PARLEY!" shouted Jack, "that's the one."

"Parley?" said Pintel, lowering his weapon irritably. "Down to the depths what ever man that thought up 'parley'."

"That would be the French," said Jack knowledgably.

Will managed to get himself and Elizabeth back to the Interceptor. He helped her climb the rungs as they reached the upper deck. "Not more pirates," she muttered as she got to the top and saw people standing aboard the deck.

Gibbs stepped forward, "Welcome aboard, Miss Elizabeth" he said, hoping she'd remember him. He was quite surprised to see just how much she'd grown up in eight years.

"Mr. Gibbs?" she said, peering down at him with interest.

Gibbs nodded and looked past her at Will. "Hey, boy, where be Jack?" he asked.

"Jack? Jack Sparrow?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes opening wide in surprise, as she turned to Will.

"He fell behind," Will replied shortly, attempting to lead Elizabeth away.

"And the lady?" Gibbs pestered.

"Will's eyes shot open. "Charlotte," he whispered, realizing that in his attempts to get Elizabeth to safety, he'd completely forgotten about Charlotte. He looked back out towards the Isla de Muerta in horror.

"You brought Charlotte as well?" Elizabeth asked him. Will nodded, "where is she?" she asked. Will paused before pointing back to the island. Elizabeth's eyes opened wide, "You left her there?"

Will turned away in disgust of himself, "She fell behind."

Gibbs nodded solemnly, "Keep to the code."

He turned back to the crew and nodded to Anamaria, who began to give out orders, "Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails! Make quickly, divvies"

Will felt horrible with himself as he led Elizabeth below. She followed him quietly, her mind still lingering on the fact that their best friend was now all alone on an island, and Will was not going to get her.


	13. Chapter 13

Jack was quite pleased that the crew of the Black Pearl had elected not to shoot him or Charlotte. However, he could not hide his disappointment as they took him up to see Barbossa, who was still in a rage after losing both the medallion and Elizabeth.

Jack's former first mate's eyes widened as the one-eyed mongrel and his bald friend led himself and Charlotte towards him."How the blazes did you get off that island?" he asked, his voice filled with amusement, anger, and wonder.

Charlotte turned to Jack and folded her arms, as if to say; "Go on then, idiot."

Jack gave her a quick wink, before turning to Barbossa with a toothy grin, "When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing" he paused as Barbossa waited to see the error in his ways. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack said as a matter of fact-ly.

Barbossa paused before grinning in return; giving Jack the impression that he had just won an amazing prize. "Ah, well, I won't be making that mistake again." He turned to the other pirates and said, "Gents, you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow?" He made sure to say the last few words with exuberance, as the pirates muttered in agreement. "Kill him."

Jack quickly raised his hands as the pirates all pointed their weapons at him. In the meantime, Barbossa turned to Charlotte with a smile. "And you, milady, are you?" he asked, grabbing her hand and brushing the back of it with a kiss.

"Miss Vaughan," said Charlotte, eyeing the Captain warily. "You abducted my best friend? The one who took your medallion? Ring a bell?"

From behind her, she heard Jack mutter, "Don't push your luck darling."

Barbossa gave a hearty laugh, "Ah, a breath of fresh air! It has been a long time since I have felt the flesh of a woman. Perhaps I ought to keep you close, should the curse lift unexpectedly."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, and was about to give Barbossa a scathing remark on where he could go when the curse lifted when Jack quickly stepped in front of her. "The girl's blood didn't work, did it?" he asked, resting his arm on the oar which he was still holding.

Barbossa paused before looking at the other pirates who still had their weapons raised. "Hold your fire," he said, causing the pirates to reluctantly lower their weapons, Pintel with a slight growl. "You know whose blood we need?" Barbossa asked, looking at Jack suspiciously.

He grinned, "I know whose blood you need."

Elizabeth sat in the cabin of the Interceptor, her mind reeling from the news as Anamaria steered the ship far from the Isla de Muerta. She sat in silence, attempting to wrap a scarp of cloth around her profusely bleeding hand. As she failed for the fiftieth time, she lost her patience and threw the cloth down in defeat as Will sat across from her, "What sort of man trades a man's life for a ship?" she asked him sourly.

Will paused, unsure of whether she was mad at him, Jack, or Barbossa. "A pirate," he replied glumly before picking up the cloth, "here. Let me."

Elizabeth held out her hand and allowed Will to tie the bandage around, "Thank you."

"You said you gave Barbossa my name as yours. Why?" he asked, the question had plagued him since he'd seen her in the company of the pirates in the caves.

Elizabeth watched his face carefully, noting he refused to meet her eyes. "I don't know," she said, before pulling her hand back as Will tied the bandage tightly, wincing.

"I'm sorry. Blacksmith's hands- I know they're rough," Will said quickly, trying to apologize.

"No… I mean yes, they are but…. Don't stop" she said quickly, hoping to salvage the situation. The pair looked up at one another, and began to lean together, when Will muttered her name. Will looked down and noticed the medallion hanging round her neck. Elizabeth noticed this as well, and quickly backed away, ripping it from around her neck. "It's yours," she said, handing it to him.

Will paused before taking it from her hand, looking at it properly. "I thought I'd lost it the day they rescued me. It was gift from my father. He sent it to me." He looked up at her and noticed her guilty look, "Why'd you take it?"

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears, "Because I was afraid that you were a pirate. That would have been awful," she said attempting to justify her actions.

Will paused before coming to a realization, "It wasn't your blood they needed. It was my father's blood… my blood… the blood of a pirate." Will thought hard on all the things Jack had told him, and finally realized why the pirate had so readily agreed to help him in the first place.

Elizabeth noticed the anger within his voice and attempted to sympathize with him, "Will, I'm so sorry, please forgive me-" she was cut off as Will slammed the medallion down on the table. She quickly got up and left, assuming he was mad at her.

Will looked up and realized he'd scared her away, and began to wallow in his thoughts and actions, thinking about all he'd risked for her; his life, as well as the life of his best friend.

Elizabeth ducked into the captain's quarters, attempting to calm herself down as she realized the range of emotions she'd just experienced in a matter of minutes. Looking out of one of the portholes, she watched the waves wash by, and her thoughts immediately went to Charlotte, who was probably trapped on an island on her own, or on the Pearl with Barbossa, who'd most likely killed Jack by now.

Meanwhile, in the Captain's cabin of the Pearl, Jack along with Charlotte were attempting to haggle with Barbossa. Jack paced the room, as Charlotte sat on the opposite of a long table, while Barbossa kept one eye on her, and another on Jack.

"So, you expect to leave me standing on some beach with nothing but a name and your word it's the one I need and watch you sail away in my ship?" Barbossa clarified, going through the terms of Jack's newest proposal.

Jack turned to face him with a grimace, "No. I expect to leave you standing on some beach with absolutely no name at all, watching me sail away on _my_ ship, and then I'll shout the name back to you. Savvy?" He stood behind Charlotte's chair, placing his hands on her shoulder as he waited for Barbossa's agreement.

Barbossa looked at him incredulously. "But that still leaves us with the problem of me standing on some beach with naught but a name and your word it's the one I need."

Charlotte groaned and slammed her head on the table. "You've got to me joking me," she said, her voice muffled.

Jack bent down, "What's that love?" he asked, grinning, as Barbossa lent forward.

She straightened up and looked at Barbossa, smiling. "Of the two of you," she pointed to Jack and Barbossa, "Jack is the only one who hasn't committed mutiny, therefore . . . his word is the one we'll all be trusting."

Barbossa grinned, "Wise lady you have there, Jack. I might just take her for myself when this is all over."

Charlotte bit back her reply as Jack squeezed her shoulder before leaning forward and picking up three green apples from the bowl on the table. "I suppose I should be thanking you because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, I would have an equal share in that curse, same as you." He placed the other two apples back before sitting down and placing his feet up on the table, and taking a bite. "Funny ol' world, innit?" he asked, before offering Barbossa the apple.

Barbossa gave Jack a disgusted look before opening his mouth to reply, when the Bo'sun entered. "Captain, we're coming up on the Interceptor."

Barbossa got up and followed him out, before Jack grabbed Charlotte's hand and dragged her along with him to the top of the ship. He let go of her as they reached the top, and she used this time to map out the lay of the ship, noting the various riggings, ropes, and railings as Jack spoke to Barbossa.

Jack quickly jumped in front of Barbossa, who was looking at the Interceptor through his telescope. "I'm having a thought here, Barbossa." Barbossa lowered his telescope slightly, eyeing Jack with interest. "What say we run up a flag of truce? I scurry over to the Interceptor, and I negotiate the return of your medallion, eh? What say you to that?"

Barbossa shook his head with a grin, "Now you see, Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the Pearl. People are easy to search when they're dead."

"Unless they're strapped to a cannon and thrown overboard," said Charlotte from behind Jack. The two men turned to face her and she gave them both a wink, before picking at her fingernails.

Jack turned back to Barbossa who didn't wait before saying, "Lock them in the brig." The Bo'sun grabbed Charlotte and Jack, who threw his apple into Barbossa's hand. Just as they were being hauled back below, Barbossa said, "leave the girl in my quarters. I want a word with her."

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Charlotte shook her head, silencing him. She found herself being marched over to the Captain's quarters by the man called Ragetti. "It's not too often we have a woman aboard the Pearl."

"I'm honoured," she replied icily as he left her in the room. She sat back down in the chair she'd been forced to vacate only moments ago, looking straight ahead at the door.

A few seconds later, Barbossa appeared, locking the door behind him before taking a seat next to Charlotte and leaning in close to her. "Now, darlin'.Tell me how ye came to be in Sparrow's company?"

Charlotte turned to face him, her arms crossed. "You kidnapped my best friend. So I struck a deal with Jack to get her back. The end."

"And you struck this deal alone, aye?" Barbossa pressed.

Charlotte knew he was trying to see if she knew whose blood was needed to lift the curse. If she didn't' tell him, he's dispose of her, but if she did then she would be put through some sort of pain in order to give the name up. "No. I had help," she replied dully.

"And who, may I ask, helped you?" Barbossa whispered, leaning so close to her she could feel his breath on her face.

"A friend," she replied shortly, looking directly in Barbossa's eyes.

Barbossa growled before pulling out a small silver dagger and placing the blade on her neck, pressing ever so slightly. "And is this friend the person of whom Sparrow speaks of?"

Charlotte grinned, "it's going to take more than a threat to get that information, _Captain_ " she said, placing emphasis on the last word.

Barbossa dragged the blade along her neck, pressing it harder, allowing a few thin beads of blood to appear on her neck. "You have such a beautiful face," he said, caressing her cheek with a withered hand. "It would be a shame for such a masterpiece to go to waste, hmm?"

Charlotte grinned, "Flattery will get you nowhere." She prepared herself and knew what was coming. Barbossa flicked the knife across her face, making a small cut along her cheek, just deep enough to draw blood.

He waited for the young woman to speak, but she remained silent. Eventually his temper ran out and he grabbed her arm, pulling her up from the chair and dragging her through the door, and down the stairs to the brig. He stood at the top of the stairs, holding Charlotte by the neck, sqeezing ever so slightly, "give me the wretched name!" he yelled.

"You'll have to ask nicely," she said, toying with his patience. Barbossa flung her away from him, and watched as she fell down the wooden steps and onto the floor.

Jack watched in horror as she fell, his hands gripping the bars of the cell tightly. Barbossa came down the stairs and picked Charlotte up by the hair, dragging her to Jack's cell. He unlocked it, but before tossing Charlotte in there, he looked at her with anger and lust. "You'll tell me in due time. I'm sure of that lass." He raised a hand and whacked her hard across the face, his rings scraping the skin on her cheek. Charlotte didn't bother raising a hand to feel her face; she knew he'd drawn blood. She felt herself being tossed into the brig, stumbling before Jack caught ahold of her.

Barbossa slammed the cell shut and locked it, before hanging the keys back on the hook and disappearing up the staircase.

Jack quickly wrapped an arm around Charlotte's waist as she steadied herself. The fall had clearly caused her to sprain her ankle, and she could feel the swelling within her boot. She relaxed ever so slightly into Jack's arms.

He looked down at her and brushed a lock of her hair out of her face, revealing a few ugly scratched on the left side of her face and neck. "What did he do to you?" he asked quietly, as he ripped part of his sleeve and began to dab at the blood.

She pushed his hand away and sighed, "Tried to get the name. Didn't work." She sat down on the bench against the wall, and slammed her head back, closing her eyes. She felt Jack sit down next to her and place an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. "I didn't tell him anything. I swear," she said, her eyes still closed.

Jack smirked, "I knew you wouldn't. You're made of stronger stuff than I thought love," he said.

Charlotte hesitated before resting her head on his shoulder, opening her eyes and seeing the lock on the cell. "How do you think we get out of here?" she asked, looking up at him.

Jack's smile vanished slightly, "The bench can't be lifted, so there's no leverage" he replied, knowing that was going to be her first suggestion.

"This is going to be a long day," Charlotte said, looking back at the locked cell door and groaning.

Jack nodded, "true enough. But I maintain my theory," he paused as Charlotte locked back at him, confused. "Things could be worse," he finished causally.

Charlotte paused before asking Jack the question she'd been dying to ask since they'd crossed paths on the dock. "That medallion. How did you know it wasn't Elizabeth's when you saved her that day?"

Jack grinned, "I knew that our friend's father had given birth to a son. That's how I knew it didn't belong to her. I just didn't know the identity of the son till you showed up with him, asking me to help you save your friend."

Charlotte nodded, "Barbossa mentioned a curse. What is that about?" she asked. She knew she was asking a lot of questions and that Jack was probably very tired right now, but she needed to know all the variables before she started making her won plan, and from her experiences with Jack, missing variables could result in a life or death situation.

"The pirates can't die. They turn into skeletons when the moonlight hits them," Jack said simply. He didn't need to look at Charlotte to verify that that was not the answer she was expecting.

"Well, isn't that something?" she replied meekily, before pressing herself into Jack's grip and closing her eyes, attempting to make herself slightly more comfortable as she thought out a plan.

Jack assumed she was just as tired as he was, and rested his head atop hers, closing his eyes and attempting to ignore the dull throb that came as a result from being his in the head with a wooden oar.

 **So, my university is crazy. There was a "bomb threat" at my University today. Needless to say, it was a false alarm. Suitcases can be quite scary for some people (note the sarcasam). I go to a university in northern Toronto. If you type it into the interweb, you'll see the craziness that is my school.**


	14. Chapter 14

On the Interceptor, things were not going as planned. Gibbs peered over the railing, looking back at the Pearl, which was steadily gaining on them. He looked up to the sails, "Hands aloft to loose t'gallants! With this wind at her stern, she'll carry ever sail we've got!"

Elizabeth appeared from below and looked at the crew, who were racing back and forth across the deck. "What's happening?" she asked, Anamaria, who was at the helm.

"The Black Pearl! She's gaining on us," Anamaria replied, looking behind her at the black ship.

Elizabeth paused before saying, "This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean!"

Anamaria and Gibbs exchanged dark looks, "You can tell then that after they've caught us." She shook her head at the young girl's remark and focused on steering the ship away.

"We're shallow on the draft, right?" Elizabeth said, heading over to the railing and peering out ahead.

Anamaria looked intrigued, "Aye."

"The can't we lose them amongst those shoals?" Elizabeth proposed, pointing to some rocks a little ways from their current position. She remembered the hours she and Charlotte had spent ebbing away at the pages of the Navy's sailing manuals.

Gibbs grinned, "We don't have to outrun them long, just long enough!"

Anamaria ran the plan through her head, fixated on one problem. The weight of the ship was slowing them down. She looked out at the crew, who were waiting for her command, "Lighten the ship, stem to stern!"

Gibbs nodded, "Anything we can afford to lose…. See that it's lost!" He and Elizabeth hurried around, untackling the barrels, and pushing them off the boat.

On the Black Pearl Jack paced up and down the length of the small cell, as Charlotte tied up her sprained ankle. "Apparently there's a leak," Jack said, attempting to ignore a wave of cold water that had sloshed into his boots.

Charlotte looked up at him with a faint smile. "We'll get out of here, eventually," she winced as she placed her boot back on her foot and laced it up.

Jack sat down next to her, "You're being quite positive," he said, sounding slightly downtrodden. "For someone with a broken ankle," he added.

From the top deck they heard Barbossa yelling orders. "Haul on the main brace! Make ready the guns! An run out the sweeps."

Charlotte and Jack exchanged dark looks as they heard the sounds of the gun ports opening. "I hate hearing him give orders on my ship."

"I hate him period," Charlotte grumbled, turning to look out of the small hole in the wall, and looking out to the sea. Bobbing in the water, she saw barrels, crates, and other things that were once at home on the Interceptor. "They're lightening the ship," she said to Jack, moving out of the way to let him see."

Back on the Interceptor, the crew continued to throw things over the railings. Will quickly appeared, having heard the commotion and stopped Cotton before he could untackle a cannon, "We're gonna need that."

He quickly appeared next to Gibbs and Elizabeth, looking past the pair at the Pearl, which was extremely close, and noticed the cannons and oars appearing on either side. Anamaria grimaced, "It was a good plan… up 'till now," she said to Elizabeth, who turned to Gibbs and Will.

Will looked at the three of them, "Gibbs! We have to make a stand. We must fight. Load the guns!"

Anamaria looked at him with incredulity, "With what?"

Will waved his hands, "Anything. Everything! Anything we have left."

Gibbs turned around and began yelling at the crew to stop throwing stuff overboard. "Load the guns. Take shot and langrage. Nails and crushed glass! With a will!" The crew began to stuff cannons with various things such as cutlery, empty rum bottles, and Gibbs' canteen. "The Pearl is going to luff up on our port quarter. She'll rake us without ever presenting a target!"

Elizabeth realized they needed to clubhaul. "Lower the anchor on the right side." She looked back at the others who were staring at her, confused. "On the starboard side!" she yelled with more conviction and force.

"It certainly has the element of surprise!" said Will, attempting to back up Elizabeth's idea.

"You're daft lady! You both are!" Anamaria cried, looking between the pair as she gripped the wheel.

"Daft like Jack," Gibbs countered. "Lower the starboard anchor! Do it ye dogs, or its you we'll load into the cannons."

They listened closely as the anchor was released. "Let go!" said Elizabeth, to Anamaria, who was still holding the wheel tightly. As soon as she'd released it , the wheel span rapidly and the ship creaked as it turned around, back towards the Pearl.

Barbossa watched with glee as the Bo'sun barked orders to the crew. "They're clubhaulin'! Hard to port! Rack the starboard oars!"

The Bo'sun barked out Barbossa's orders and the two ships were side by side.

Will looked at Anamaria, "keep us steady…" he waited until the two ships were perfectly aligned before yelling, "NOW!"

"Fire!" cried Barbossa.

"FIRE ALL!" Elizabeth called out to the crew. The two ships exchanged cannonfire.

In the brig, Charlotte was watching the whole ordeal through the eyehole. Jack attempted to squeeze in, but Charlotte saw Groves light the cannon. Quickly, she pulled Jack aside and the pair tumbled off of the bench and into the few inches of murky water on the floor.

Jack looked at her, but just then a huge whose was blown in the hull. Jack squinted through the dust of splintered wood at the slightly gaping hole. "Stop blowing holes in my ship!" he yelled in anger. He looked down and saw Gibbs' canteen floating by him, and quickly opened it, allowing a single drop of rum to fall into his mouth.

"Jack!" said Charlotte, pointing at the door, where the shot from the cannon had destroyed the lock of the cell door. "Told you we'd get out somehow," she said, as he helped her up. They walked past the door, raising an eyebrow at the various pieces of cutlery embedded in the metal.

Gibbs turned to Elizabeth, "We could use a few more ideas, lass."

"Your turn," she replied with a weak grin.

"We need us a devil's dowry," Gibbs muttered.

"We'll give them her," said Anamaria, pointing her pistol at Elizabeth and clicking the safety off.

"She's not what they're after," Will said, remembering the ordeal in the caves, and looking at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked down at her neck, where she expected the medallion to be hanging. Then she remembered giving it to Will. "The medallion," she said, looking up at Will, her eyes wide.

He turned on his heel and ran to the stair below.

Barbossa looked to the crew, who'd already unsheathed their weapons. "Raise yer colours ya bloomin' cockroaches! Hands, grapnels, at the ready! Prepare to board!"

Pintel and Ragetti were still below, firing shots at the Interceptor, one of which had just severed the Interceptor's mast, allowing it to fall down.

Grapple hooks were thrown as the cursed pirates boarded the Interceptor. "Blast to all carcasses, men. Forward clear to the power magazine. And the rest of you, bring me the medallion!" Barbossa shouted.

Will quickly landed in three feet of water. Cannon holes littered the side of the hull, and had knocked over the table that he'd left the medallion on. He began to search for it feverishly, when he heard a loud thud, and looked up at the grate, which had been closed, and was now blocked by the fallen mast. "Hey! Hey! Below!" he cried, pounding his fists on the metal, but to no avail.

Jack and Charlotte quickly weaved their way through the empty Pearl, and to the top deck, where the watched in horror as the pirates attacked the crew of the Interceptor. Just then, one of the pearl's pirates swung back over, and Jack quickly kicked him off the rope, and into the water. "Thanks very much," he said, before grabbing ahold of Charlotte's waist and swinging over to the Interceptor, landing next to Gibbs.

"Jack!" cried Gibbs, in shock.

Jack thrust the canteen back at the older man, "Bloody empty." He followed Charlotte over to Elizabeth, who was fighting one of the Pearl's pirates. Behind her one of them attempted to attack her, but Jack intercepted. "That's not very nice," he knocked the pirate out and looked at her, "where's the medallion?" he asked, with all seriousness.

"Wretch," Elizabeth cried, attempting to slap him.

Jack caught her wrist and looked at the bandage, "Ahh, where is dear William?" he asked, with a smirk.

"Will…." Said Elizabeth, before turning to the grate and running towards it. She pushed a few of the smaller pieces of wood away and saw Will. "Will!" she screamed.

"Elizabeth!" he cried. He peered past her and saw a woman with black hair and green eyes, "Charlotte!" he yelled.

Elizabeth turned around and saw Charlotte standing next to her, attempting to lift the heavier piece of wood out of the way. Charlotte noticed the look of surprise and relief of Elizabeth, who was about to say something, but Charlotte thought better of it and interrupted her, "We'll have time for a cozy catch up later, come on!"

Together the pair attempted to lift the mast up and free Will.

Meanwhile Jack was looking for the medallion, and caught sight of Barbossa's annoying monkey carrying something gold in it's mouth. "Monkey!" he yelled, sheathing his sword and ducking through the fighting pirates.

"We can't move it!" Elizabeth cried, wrapping her hands around the grate. Just then two pirates pulled the pair away. "WILL!"

"Elizabeth," cried Will, as he watched her be pulled away.

Barbossa stood by the portion of the fallen mast on his ship, as the monkey clambered up his body and dropped the medallion in his outstretched hand. "Why thank you Jack," he said, looking at Sparrow, who'd appeared by his feet, following the monkey.

"You're welcome," Jack said with a wry grin, looking up at Barbossa's face.

"Not you. We named the monkey 'Jack'." Barbossa said, turning to the crew, "Gents, our hope is resorted!" The crew cheered as Jack rolled his eyes at the monkey.

On the Interceptor, the Bo'sun lit the gunpowder leading up to the collection of powder kegs. They quickly swung back onto their ship to join the celebration.

Meanwhile, Will struggled to escape the cabin, which had rapidly filled itself with water. He took a deep breath before diving down to move some of the wood that had blocked part of the grate.

On the Pearl, the crew of the Interceptor was currently being tied to the mast, while one of the larger men kept ahold of both Jack and Elizabeth. Pintel pointed his pistol at the crew, "it any of you as much as thinks the word 'parley,' I'll have your guts for garters."

Just then, the Interceptor exploded, as Elizabeth ducked out of the ropes and ran to the railing, "Will!" she cried. She turned to Barbossa who laughed, and began to punch and hit him anywhere she could. "You've got to stop it! Stop it!"

Barbossa looked down at her with a grin, "Welcome back Miss. You took advantage of our hospitality last time. It holds fair now that you return the favour," he said, pushing her towards the crew, who began to grab at her as she began to scream.

Barbossa turned to Charlotte and nodded to the Bo'sun who was holding her to let her go. He shoved her towards Barbossa, causing her to fall into his arms as she placed weight on her ankle. "And you shall remain with me," Barbossa said, stroking her cheek as he drew nearer to her. Charlotte was about to slap him, when a voice behind her said "Barbossa!"

"Will!" cried the two girls, looking at him. He stood sopping wet on the deck of the Pearl, holding a pistol tightly in his hand.

"They go free," he said, pointing the gun at Barbossa.

"What's in your head, boy?" said Barbossa looking at Will with disinterest.

"They go free," he repeated.

"You've only got one shot, and we can't die!" said Barbossa with a grin.

Will turned to Jack, who pleaded, "Don't do anything stupid," he mouthed, his hands pressed together.

"You can't. I can," Will said, jumping onto the railing of the ship, and turning the pistol to his head.

"Like that," said Jack, rolling his eyes.

"Who are you?" Barbossa asked, watching the entire drama unfold on the deck of his ship. He looked at Will, who looked vaguely familiar.

Jack jumped in the way before Will could say another word; "No one. He's no one. A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though- eunuch," he finished, with a whisper pointing behind him at Will, who rolled his eyes,

"My name is Will Tuner. My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood rusn in my veins."

Ragetti's eyes widened, "He's the spitting image of ol'Bootstrap come back to haunt us."

Will continued, "On my word do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' locker." He clicked the pistol to make sure Barbossa new he wasn't joking.

"Name your terms, Mr. Turner," said Barbossa realizing this was the man that both Jack and Charlotte had tried to protect.

"Elizabeth goes free," Will said.

"Yes, we know that one. Anything else?" Barbossa said, rolling his eyes.

Charlotte coughed loudly and gave a wave. "And Charlotte!" yelled Will, causing Barbossa to relinquish his hold on Charlotte's waist, and roll his eyes.

"And?" asked Barbossa, slightly annoyed that he was being so lenient.

Will watched as Jack pointed to himself, "And the crew- the crew are not to be harmed," he said waving his pistol around.

"Agreed," said Barbossa.

Will was quickly tied up to the mast, as the crew was herded down to the brig. The crew of the Pearl was holding Jack, Charlotte, and Elizabeth tightly. Barbossa walked past Charlotte, and looked at her, "Seems a pity to lose this one," he whispered so only the three of them could hear him. "Perhaps I could keep you," he said, drawing closer to Charlotte.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "Rot in hell."

"Thanks to your friend, I might not have to," Barbossa said with a grin, wrapping a hand around her throat and attempting to kiss her.

Charlotte made a wild kick and Barbossa's groan ensured she'd aimed correctly. He staggered away, and winked at her before straightening up and nodding to the man holding Elizabeth to release her.

They pulled out the plank, and unbound Elizabeth's hands, before Pintel nudged her onto the plank.

Pintel watched in sorrow as Elizabeth headed along the plank, "Go on, Poppet, go! Walk the plank!" he said, his gun at her back.

"Barbossa, you lying bastard! You said she'd go free," said Will struggling against his bonds.

"Don't dare impugn me honour, boy. I agreed she'd go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where." He nodded to another pirate who quickly gagged Will. "Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it lads?"

The pirates all nodded in agreement, "Aye."

"So I'll be having that dress back before you go," said Barbossa with a grin.

Jack turned to the pirate holding him, "I always liked you." The pirate growled, causing Jack to shut up and ignore the look Charlotte had just given him.

Elizabeth undid the corset of the dress, before pulling it off, and leaving her standing in the nightgown she'd been wearing since she'd been taken. She threw it at Barbossa, "it goes with your black heart."

Barbossa pressed the dress to his face, "Ooh, it's still warm."

Elizabeth turned around and continued to the edge fo the plank, where she stopped and looked down at the water below.

The Bo'sun groaned, before saying loudly, "too long!" He stepped on the plank, causing Elizabeth to fall off, and into the frigid water.

Charlotte was dragged to the plank, and hobbled to the end before taking a deep breath, giving Will a nod and saying "I'll get her back home, Will," before jumping.

Jack was last and looked over to Barbossa before stepping on the plank, "I'd really rather hiped we were past all this," he said, nodding to the plank and then out to the sea.

"Jack…jack," said Barbossa, throwing an arm around Jack's shoudlers and steering him towards the plank, where he could see the island they were being marooned on. "Did ya notice? That be the same little island that we made you Governor of on our last little trip."

"I did notice," Jack said, his voice quite monotone.

"Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape… but I doubt it," he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Jack's throat. "Off you go."

Jack walked one step before turning back and saying, "Last time, you left me a pistol with one shot."

Barbossa nodded, "By the power's you're right. Where be Jack's pistol? Bring it forward." Ragetti passed Barbossa Jack's effects, and placed it in the captain's hands.

Jack looked at the measly pistol and back at Barbossa, "Seeing as there's three of us, a gentlemen … would give us a trio of pistols."

Barbossa laughed and stared at the island, "It'll be one pistol as before, and you can be the gentlemen and choose one lady to shoot, and eat the other alive before starving to death yourself." He tossed Jack's things into the sea with a final wave.

Jack huffed and jumped in after it, swimming down to the sea and recovering his things, before following the other two ladies towards the island.


	15. Chapter 15

**I might be a little while updating. I have my final exams right now, so just bear with me. My last one is on the 11 of April, so I should have a new chapter between now and the 11th, and then I'll start updating more frequently.**

Jack immediately dropped his things on the island's shore, shaking the ropes off of his wrists as he walked. Charlotte had already ripped hers off, and was now pacing back and forth in the sand. Elizabeth had collapsed and was laying on her back, looking up at the sky, her mouth moving in prayer.

Jack stood facing the Pearl, which was now sailing away into the horizon. He watched the ship get smaller, his eyes squinting as it put leagues between the three of them. Charlotte came next to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship," he spat bitterly.

Charlotte could feel his anger, "that's the second time I've watched him sail away with one of my friends." She turned to Jack, who was already looking at her, nodding in agreement. "I'll help you get your ship back, Jack. I promise you. And you can even take one of the shots, from my pistol! Just in case your first one misses."

Jack felt his stomach drop slightly. He paused before stating, "He gave us one pistol with one shot, love."

From behind they heard Elizabeth exclaim, "What?"

"Son of a –" began Charlotte, but Elizabeth had already caught up to her.

"I dare you to finish that sentence Charlotte," she said, looking at her friend with her eyebrows raised. "You are a proper lady, and –"

"Oh shut it," said Charlotte. "We're stuck here, wallowing in self-pity, until such time as one of us thinks up a plan…. So," she looked at the pair of them, her hands on her hips. "And ideas?"

Jack shook his head with disappointment, before turning around and wandering into the thinned shade of palm trees that littered the centre of the tiny island.

Elizabeth and Charlotte exchanged looks before they quickly followed him, the latter being held up by the former. "But you were marooned on this island before weren't you?" Elizabeth began.

"Elizabeth, don't push your luck with him, or he just might shoot you," Charlotte whispered in her friend's ear.

Elizabeth ignored here, "So we can escape in the same way you did then!"

Jack turned to her, not even attempting to hide his anger. "to what point and purpose ,young missy? The Black Pearl is gone and unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice-" he glanced down at Elizabeth's chest and said, "unlikely," before looking at Charlotte's and grinning, "perhaps."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow and Jack quickly continued, "young Mr. Turner will be dead long before any of us can reach him."

Elizabeth looked outraged while Charlotte began to turn a little pale. Her ankle had swollen tremendously since she'd last checked, and her walking was not helping in the slightest. They followed Jack as he knocked on a tree trunk, took four large steps away from it, and began to jump up and down a few times. "But, you're Captain Jack Sparrow!" Elizabeth cried, "You vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Trading Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot! Are you the pirate I've read about or not? How did you escape last time?"

Jack looked at her with distaste, "Last time…." He said, his hands itching to be wrapped around Elizabeth's throat. He looked at Charlotte who gave him a warning glare., and so he refrained. "Last time I was here a grand total of three days, all right? Last time-" he bent down and opened a secret cellar door that was covered by sand. "- the rumrunners used this island as a cache." He sauntered down the stairs and began shifting things around, as the two women peered into the cellar. "- Came by, and I was able to barter a passage off. From the looks of things; they've long been out of business. Probably… have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that." He remerged clutching three bottles of rum.

"So that's it then?" Elizabeth said angrily. "That's the secret grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow? You spent three days lying on a beach, drinking rum?" she exclaimed.

"Welcome to the Caribbean," he said, handing her a bottle., before throwing an arm around Charlotte and passing her another, as he led her back out to the beach. "Sit down love, that ankle's not going to heal any faster if you keep walking."

"Don't tell me what to do, Jack" she said, uncorking the bottle of rum, and taking a swig.

"Fine," said Jack, shoving his bottle in the sand and watching her for a moment before quickly swiping her off of her feet and placing her on the sand. "There we go," he said, giving her a grin, before unlacing her boot. He gently slid the shoe off and grimaced as he looked at her ankle.

"What's wrong with it?" Charlotte asked, trying to look at her injury, as Jack blocked it from her view.

"Not pretty, love. Not at all" he said, as he undressed it.

Charlotte threw her hands in the air as she pushed Jack's hand away, "It's my ankle and I want to- OH." Her eyes widened as she looked at the swollen mass of skin and blood vessels that attached her foot to her leg. The skin had turned various shades of purple, blue and black, and there was a swelling the size of a fist on the side. "Well, that isn't pretty at all," she agreed.

Jack undid the scarf tied around his waist and began to tie it around Charlotte's ankle, "Jack,-" she began.

"You need it more than I do," he said, as he wrapped it around her ankle, "is it too tight?" he asked, looking at her for any signs of pain.

"No, its fine," she said. "I should probably elevate it, though," she said, as she built a tower of sand to rest her foot on. Charlotte looked around for Elizabeth, who'd disappeared from sight as Jack finished bandaging her.

"There you are," he said, moving back to allow them to marvel at his work. He uncorked his bottle, and began to drink.

"How did you know to do that?" Charlotte asked, looking at Jack. He didn't seem like the type of person to tend for wounds.

"When you've been on the sea for as long as I have, you tend to pick things up," he said vaguely. Charlotte raised and eyebrow, and he quickly said, "I hurt myself a lot in the beginning."

"Really?" she asked, "you don't seem like the type of person to confront a problem."

Jack looked affronted. "Excuse me?" he exclaimed, placing a hand on his heart.

Charlotte smirked, "Need I remind you that we had to steal a ship, to steal a ship, all because you didn't want to get rid of people on the aforementioned ship. Followed by the fact that when confronted with the possibility of having to fight, you begin to haggle using the most confusing sentence structure ever spoken by man."

Jack gave her an amused look, before answering. "Highly confusing sentence structure, eh? Seems to me like you've been learning how to speak like a pirate."

Charlotte bit back a retort, remembering that they were trapped on the tiniest of islands, and there was not a single shred of hope for an escape. Luckily, Elizabeth had chosen that moment to return, with only a third of her rum left in the bottle.

"Well, looks like we're just going to have to make the best of a bad situation," she said, sitting on Charlotte's other side.

"That's the spirit!" Jack said, clapping his hands. "And I for one, can say that I am completely on board with this decision," he cozied up to Charlotte and threw an arm around her waist.

Elizabeth gave Charlotte a look that simply said "I need to talk to you. Now." Charlotte quickly drained her bottle of rum in a few long gulps, before looking to Jack. "Do you mind fetching me another… love?" she asked, batting her eyelashes and placing a hand delicately on Jack's shoulder.

"Of course," he said, getting up and heading into the trees towards the cellar.

Elizabeth watched him intently before, turning to Charlotte, pouring part of her rum in the sand before burying it. "We need to make a signal," she said, "and we need to burn the rum in order to do it."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "alright. But what happens when we make the signal. How can you be sure someone will see it?"

Elizabeth grinned, "Will told me the entire Navy is out looking for me. My father. Norrington. Even Groves. There's a high chance that they would come to check on an island with such a large smoke signal."

"How much rum to do plan to burn?" Charlotte asked, turning to face her friend, a look of interest on her face.

"All of it," Elizabeth said simply, as she looked out at the sea, completely proud of herself for making this plan.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, what if we don't get found as quickly as you think. We'd need something to fill our stomachs, unless you're suggesting we drink saltwater and pray we don't die of thirst."

"It'll work. We just need to make sure Sparrow isn't in the way when we burn it. And we'll set some rum aside," Elizabeth conceded. "When he's drunk and passes out- which I'm sure will happen- I'll empty part of the store, and use the fire we will eventually have to build for warmth, and the trees."

"That's what you were planning when you went for the walk?" Charlotte said, looking positively impressed. "But I won't be much help carrying the barrels," indicating her foot.

"Just distract Sparrow. From what I can see, he seems to be quite taken by you."

Charlotte could not correct her friend, as Jack returned, throwing a bottle to Elizabeth, whose rum had disappeared in the sand, and another to Charlotte, who quickly uncorked hers and began indulging Jack with her attention.

"So, Jack, now that we have all of this time, do you mind telling me more about your adventures? Ones that _actually_ happened," she added, noting the cunning look on Jack's face.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, as Jack began to speak.

Eventually, Charlotte managed to convince Jack to light a fire, and the trio sat around it, Elizabeth humming the tune to the pirate song she'd once found so intriguing.

"What's that you're singing?" Jack asked, looking over at her.

"Just a song I learnt. Growing up I had quite the obsession with pirates," she said, smirking.

"What's the song? I might know it," Jack said.

"yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot, drink up me 'earties yo ho …."

 _"We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs. Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me"_ they sang.

"I love this song!" Jack said, taking a seat next to Charlotte and placing a head on her shoulder. "Really bad eggs!" She laughed and he looked at her with a smirk, "when I get the Pearl back, I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew, and we'll sing it all the time!"

Charlotte caught Elizabeth's eye, as she nodded. Charlotte quickly turned to Jack, "and you'll be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main."

"Not just the Spanish Main, love. The entire ocean. The entire world." He pulled Charlotte closer to him, ignoring the fact that there was a third party with them. "Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails- that's what a ship needs-but what a ship is…. What the Black pearl really is… is freedom." He raised a hand a pointed out to the sea, his eyes focused on the moonlight that rippled on the surface.

Elizabeth piped up from near them, "Jack… it must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island."

"Oh yes," he said, his face morphing into one of sadness. He turned to Charlotte, and traced a finger along her face, "but the company is infinitely better than last time, I think." Out of pure habit, he looked down at her chest, and Elizabeth had to hold her laughter as Charlotte- unbeknownst to Jack- rolled her eyes. "The scenery has definitely improved."

"Jack, I don't think I've had enough rum to allow that kind of talk," Charlotte said, picking up her bottle.

"I know exactly what you mean, love" he said, curling his moustache and leaning close to her.

Charlotte panicked and raised her bottle in a toast, "to freedom."

"To the Black Pearl!" cried Jack, raising his in response, before downing it all in once and losing consciousness.

Elizabeth nodded to Charlotte. "Impressive work, Miss Vaughan," she said, before getting up and heading over to the cellar. "Keep watching him, in case he wakes up," Elizabeth whispered, before disappearing into the darkness behind them.


	16. Chapter 16

By the morning, Elizabeth had burned at least two thirds of the rum supply. She knew she'd have to face Jack's wrath at some point, but she was banking on the fact that Charlotte would try to console him. She looked over her shoulder, and sure enough, she could see the pair asleep on the beach through the smoke. "Charlotte better get up first," she muttered under her breath.

Jack rolled over and looked at Charlotte. The small crease she usually had between her brows was gone, and for one, she looked peaceful. He watched her for a moment, as his eyes opened fully. Suddenly, he shot up, spraying Charlotte with sand, causing her to jump. He looked around and saw the smoke floating in the air in front of him, and felt a slight wave of heat at his back. He turned quickly, and saw the shade behind them burning. Wandering around the large fire was Elizabeth, throwing another casket of rum into the centre of the fire, and ducking as a huge flame erupted. "NO!" he screamed, getting up and running towards her, Charlotte hobbling behind, "Not good! Stop! Not good!" He grabbed her arm, "What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade! THE RUM!" he cried, waving his arms at the fire, and blowing, attempting to slow it down.

"Yes the rum is gone," Elizabeth said simply, standing next to Charlotte, who was both amused and worried.

"Why is the rum gone?" Jack asked, his hands moving close to Elizabeth's neck.

Elizabeth quickly ducked behind Charlotte. "One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two," she gestured to the fire, "That signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me, do you really think that there is even the slightest chance they won't see it?" she shrieked in response.

Jack looked positively aggravated, "but why is the rum gone?" he asked.

"She just explained the logic behind it Jack," Charlotte said warily from her place between the two.

Elizabeth wandered over to the beach and sat down by the water, staring at the horizon. "Just wait, Captain Sparrow. You give it one hour- maybe two, keep a weather eye out and then you will see white sails on that horizon."

Jack shook his head, and pulled out the pistol from his belt, aiming it at Elizabeth's head, before looking at Charlotte's disapproving glare, and thinking better of it, placing it back in his belt, as he stalked past her, and down the beach.

"Is he angry?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at Charlotte, who was standing near her.

"What do you think?" she replied, her voice full of sarcasm. "I'll go make sure he doesn't blow his brains out." Elizabeth turned to her, her eyebrows raised. "What? We might need him," Charlotte rationalized, as she turned and walked down the island as fast as her legs would carry her.

When she caught up to Jack, he was in the middle of an uncanny impression of Elizabeth. "'Must've been terrible for you to be trapped here, Jack. Must have been terrible for you.'" He turned on his heel and screamed; "WELL IT BLOODY IS NOW!" He quickly composed himself, realizing he'd just yelled in Charlotte's face.

"Jack, calm down. Elizabeth's idea is actually quite smart," Charlotte said, looking at him with sympathy. "She's kept some rum aside, just in case. I made sure of it."

"Well, that's one thing," Jack grumbled, looking at Charlotte. He pointed to her foot, "You shouldn't be standing, love."

Charlotte smirked, "Don't worry, it's not as bad as it was yesterday," she said. Jack raised an eyebrow, as if to say "go on. Show me." Charlotte attempted to walk normally, but the sand dune she was standing on slid quickly, and she was about to fall facedown, when Jack caught her.

"Told you so," he said, grinning. He stayed there for a moment, holding her waist, as she gripped his shoulders. He could count the eyelashes on her eyes, and the small flecks of gold in her emerald green eyes.

"No one likes a know-it-all Jack," Charlotte said, rolling her eyes as she attempted to regain her footing, moving away from him slightly. Jack kept a hand behind her back as they walked over a large sand dune. As they reached the other side, they both saw a large and familiar looking ship with white sails hovering in the waters. Three longboats were heading towards them.

"There'll be know living with her after this," Jack murmured, causing Charlotte to laugh. He looked at her, and she at him, before her smile slipped from her face completely.

"I don't think you'll get a chance to live with anyone but yourself after they reach the island, Jack" Charlotte whispered, her eyes full of tears.

"What-" Jack began.

"You're a pirate," she replied quickly, as one of them rolled down her cheek. Jack made an attempt to wipe it away, but Charlotte quickly turned around and slowly began to walk back towards the fire. "We should probably go get Elizabeth," she said, in what was supposed to be a regular voice.

Jack nodded, before realizing she wasn't looking at him. "You're right."

"Aren't I always?" she countered, as he caught up to her. He was surprised to see the tears were already gone, and Charlotte looked completely normal.

"Nobody likes a know-it-all" he said, causing her to smile again.

They reached Elizabeth quickly, and the girl hopped up as though a fire had been lit under her. "What is it?" she asked, looking at Charlotte, and ignoring Jack completely.

"The Navy is here, just over the dune there," Charlotte said, pointing the way they'd come.

Elizabeth's face lit up, "I knew it!" she said, before bolting down the island towards the ship, before stopping completely. "But what about Will?" she asked the pair of them, as they joined her.

"I don't know the answer to that yet," Charlotte sighed, as they headed down the beach. Before anyone could say anything else, several men dressed in military uniforms descended the dune, and ran towards the trio, two of them holding shackles.

The trio stopped and waited as the Navy members reached them. One of them immediately clasped the irons around Jack's wrists, as the pirate stood there rolling his eyes and sighing, used to the treatment.

Suddenly, Charlotte found her wrists being shoved into the second pair of irons. "What is going on?" she asked the man, as he locked them tightly. The man said nothing, as one of the other ones began asking Elizabeth if she was alright.

"I'm fine!" said Elizabeth, looking past the Naval member and at Charlotte. "Why is Lawrence shackling Charlotte?"

The man said nothing as they were marched to the longboats. Elizabeth was separated from Jack and Charlotte who were forced to sit, guarded by the majority of the men as the boat was rowed back to the ship.

"Elizabeth!" cried Governor Swann, embracing Elizabeth as she boarded the ship.

"Father!" Elizabeth said, falling into his arms. Less than a day ago, she would have bet her life against the odds of ever seeing her father again.

"Are you alright darling?" Swann asked, checking his daughter over, and looking for any signs of injury.

"I'm fine father," she said, exasperated.

"Elizabeth," said a voice from behind her. She closed her eyes, revolving on the spot, and opening them to the sight of Norrington, rushing towards her. "I'm fine Commodore, please."

Norrington stopped in his tracks, "Yes. Well" he stammered, looking quite awkward. "Well then." He nodded before turning to Jack and Charlotte, who was still confused as to why she was shackled. "Take these two to the brig," and make sure they are guarded.

"Aye Commodore," said the men holding their chains, pulling them off in the direction of the brig.

"What for!" cried Charlotte. "I haven't done anything!" She stood her ground, ignoring her foot, which was throbbing painfully.

Norrington approached her, his face in a twisted smile. "Miss Vaughan. You have been charged with aiding and abetting a known fugitive of the law. You have also been charged with theft, robbery, and attempted murder."

"Attempted murder?" Charlotte said, looking quite confused. She knew the rest was completely justified. "Who did I attempt to kill?"

Norrington suppressed a laugh. "Did you, or did you not place a dagger against the throat of Gillette?" he asked, nodding to the aforementioned man, who was standing attentively at the helm.

Charlotte scoffed before glaring at Gillette, "I may have done something of the sort." she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Doesn't mean he had to go whine about it," she said audibly, causing Groves, who was standing next to Norrington to laugh.

Norrington glared at Groves, who quickly covered his mouth, "my point exactly. You have engaged in numerous acts of piracy, the likes of which your protection by the Governor does not cover. You will join Mr. Sparrow in the brig."

Charlotte looked past Norrington to the Governor and Elizabeth, both of who looked positively aghast. "Commodore, you can't do this!" Elizabeth cried. "I will vouch for her."

Norrington turned to her, "Admirable as it may be, your offer means nothing. As a woman, you are not fully recognized by the law, and thus you cannot vouch for Miss Vaughan."

Elizabeth was affronted, while the Governor stepped in, "I will vouch for her."

Norrington sighed, before nodding to the man holding Charlotte's chains. "Release her," he said.

Charlotte stuck out her hands as the man unlocked the manacles, before shuffling towards the Governor, giving Norrington the harshest glare she could muster. "Thank you Governor Swann. I wish you will forgive me for my actions, for they were improper to say the least."

The Governor smiled, "I forgive you my dear. You had nothing but good intentions. However," he turned serious, "If you engage in anything of the sort again, I will not be able to help you."

"Understood," she nodded, before moving to Elizabeth's side.

Norrington nodded to the Governor before heading up the stairs to the helm. "Send Sparrow to the brig. Gillette, make sail for Port Royal."

Charlotte sighed, as Elizabeth ran forward, "But we've got to save Will!" she cried.

The Governor placed a hand on her shoulder. "No. You're safe now. We will return to Port Royal immediately, not go gallivanting after pirates!"

"Then we condemn him to death!" she said sadly, looking at her father, and back at the Commodore.

"The boy's fate is regrettable, but, then, so was his decision to engage in piracy," Swann said simply.

"But you had no problem saving me?" Charlotte asked, looking at the Governor with disbelief.

"You so happened to be with Elizabeth at the time. I assure you, had you not been, no attempt would have been made to find you," Norrington spat icily. He'd spent years in Port Royal, trying to court Elizabeth, which would have happened sooner if Charlotte had not been whispering in her ear the entire time. She may have been of good standing, but as far as Norrington was concerned, she was far too vocal and rash. "Turner made his decision, and needless to say it was a terrible one. His rationalization is one only he would be able to understand."

"He did it to rescue me. To prevent anything from happening to me," Elizabeth said, justifying Will's actions. Charlotte grinned from behind, as she realized why Elizabeth was making all of these attempts to come to Will's aid; she loved him back.

Jack, surprisingly was the next to intrude. "If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion. The Pearl was listing near to scuppers after the battle. It is very unlikely she'll be able to make good time." He approached Norrington, who's face curled up in disgust, as a hand made its way to his sword. Jack threw an arm around Norrington's shoulders, and pointed out to the horizon. "Think about it. The Black Pearl. The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up?"

Norrington raised an eyebrow, before moving Jack's arm away. "By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself." Norrington turned away to ascend the stairs, but Elizabeth persisted.

She ran to the staircase, and looked up at him. "Commodore, I beg you, please do this. For me. As a wedding gift."

Charlotte groaned inwardly, as the Governor beamed, and chatter broke out over the deck. Norrington looked down at Elizabeth with a mixture of shock, wonder, and happiness.

"Elizabeth, are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?" her father asked, rushing towards her.

"I am," she replied. Only Charlotte could detect the waiver in her voice, Elizabeth's tell-tale sign that she was lying.

Jack immediately perked up, "A wedding! I love weddings…. Drinks all round!" he shouted, waving his hands. Everyone turned to look at him, annoyed. "I know," he sighed, extending his arms, "'clap him in irons,' right?"

Norrington looked as though he was going to regret his next choice of words for thr rest of his life. "Mr. Sparrow, you will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with the bearing to Isla de Muerta. You will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase "silent as the grave." Do I make myself clear?"

"Inescapably clear," said Jack, as two men guided him up the stairs and to the helm.

Norrington looked down at Elizabeth, "You want to marry me?" he asked, taking one of her hands in his.

Elizabeth batted her eyelashes, and nodded "I know your proposal didn't go exactly as planned, but I knew you were going to ask. And I wanted to say yes, but – well, I didn't get a chance to."

"Very well, Elizabeth. Might I suggest you take Miss Vaughan into your father's quarters, and get changed? You look in dire need of some rest as well," he said.

Elizabeth nodded, and quickly took a hold of Charlotte's arm, and guided her into the lower deck of the ship. Once they'd entered the room, Charlotte turned to her, "You're going to marry Norrington? Do Will's feelings for you mean nothing?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Of course they do. He means everything to me. I honestly don't know why it took me this long to actually act on them…. The point is, we needed to give Norrington an incentive, and this is an excellent one." She turned away and began rummaging through drawers to find something appropriate to wear.

"And did you think about what might happen if Will isn't alive? Or when we get to Port Royal?" Charlotte asked, looking at the back of Elizabeth's head.

Elizabeth slumped against the dresser, "No, but that will be dealt with when the time comes Right now, we need to get changed."

Charlotte looked down at what she was wearing, "What's wrong with this?" she asked.

Elizabeth grinned, "You haven't changed clothes in quite some time, and we know by our eyes and noses."

"Fine," said Charlotte, as she quickly helped Elizabeth find some clothing.


	17. Chapter 17

**WOW, I've never had a ship name before… what about Titanic? Just kidding, I was thinking Jarlotte. Nice idea. I like it. Let me know what you guys think: Chack or Jarlotte?**

Meanwhile, the crew of the Interceptor and Will were getting some quality bonding time as they sat opposite one another in the brig. Will could see the damage the Pearl had faced after the battle. The cell on his left had been sprayed with various cutlery, and the lock of the door had been blasted to smithereens. He thought of Charlotte and Jack, who were probably being held in that very cell. This was probably as near as he'd get to seeing his best friend again. While he hoped she had forgiven him for leaving her on the Isla de Muerta, she didn't look so happy when they marooned her, Jack, and Elizabeth on the island. His thoughts wandered to Elizabeth, and what would have happened if they had managed to reunite her with her father, and head back to Port Royal. He was shocked out of his fantasy, when Cotton's parrot squawked loudly, "Shiver me timbers!"

Gibbs smirked at the two pirates, Pintel and Ragetti, who were swabbing the floor. "Cotton' ere says you missed a bit."

Pintel slammed the head of the mop against the bars of the cell, before going back to swabbing, his face contorted with annoyance. Just then, Will remembered that the pair were part of the crew when Jack had sailed from Tortuga to the Isla de Muerta, and partook in the mutiny against him. He also know that his father was there at the time as well, as the pair had been quite loud when pointing out the physical similarities between him and his father. "You knew William Turner?" Will asked hesitantly.

Pintel grinned, "Ol' Bootstrap Bill. We knew him. Never sat well with Bootstrap what we did to Jack Sparrow, the mutiny and all. He said it wasn't right with the Code. That's why he sent off a piece of the treasure to you as it were. He said we deserved to be cursed… and remain cursed."

Ragetti came up next to Pintel, swabbing the floor with distaste, "Stupid blighter."

Will was about to say something when Gibbs interrupted, "Good man." He looked over to Will and winked.

Pintel looked at Will, "Well, as you can imagine that didn't sit to well with the Captain."

"That didn't sit too well with the Captain, at all," said Ragetti, with a slight laugh. "Tell 'im what Barbossa did," he said, nudging Pintel's shoulder and grinning maniacally.

Pintel swiveled around,"I'm telling the story! So..." he turned back to Will, drawing near the bars, so the pair were nearly toe to toe. "what the Captian did, he strapped a cannon to Bootstraps' bootstraps."

"Bootstraps' bootstraps" muttered Ragetti from behind Pintel.

"The last we saw of ol' Bill Turner, he was sinking to the crushing black oblivion of Davy Jones' Locker. Course, it was only after that we learned we needed his blood to lift the curse."

"That's what you call ironic," said Ragetti, as Pintel nodded in agreement.

Just then, Barbossa appeared at the foot of the staircase, tossing a pair of keys to Regetti, "Bring him!"

Jack was standing on the deck, watching as Norrington ordered the soldiers around. He stood off to the side, watching the action with his eyes raised. Suddenly, he heard someone walking behind him; "we need to talk, follow me."

Jack turned around just in time to see a swollen foot heading into the lowerdecks. He quickly followed the person deeper and lower into the ship. The echoes of the soldiers marching around to the sound of Norrington's orders faded quickly behind. He turned back to look in front of him, and saw that the person had disappeared. "Hello?" he asked, looking around, peering through the clouds of smoke from the engine. "Is anyone-" he was cut off as a hand reached out from a closet off of the walkway and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, before pulling him in, and slamming the door, bringing them into darkness. "I am regretting following you right now" he said loudly, before a hand was placed over his mouth.

"Shut up Jack," said the voice.

"Charlotte?" he said feigning surprise. She quickly removed her hand and Jack heard the sound of a match striking. Suddenly, a small flame lit the tiny closet, throwing everything into sharp relief. Jack smirked, "So what is so important that we needed to meet here?" he asked, wiggling an eyebrow.

Charlotte smirked, "nothing that would require a lack of clothing," she said, causing Jack's smile to fall slightly. "I needed to make sure we wouldn't be overheard or found." She paused before continuing, "So, what's the plan?" she asked, looking at him with complete faith.

Jack looked confused, "What plan, love?" he asked.

She sighed, "the plan to get Will off of the island, remove the curse so you can shoot Barbossa, and get the Pearl back."

Jack scratched his chin in thought. "Not up to your usual standards, I'm afraid. Only two out of three."

"We are getting Will back to Elizabeth. She needs him and vice versa," Charlotte said, looking quite threatening.

"If it's so important to Elizabeth, why isn't she here negotiating the terms of her dearly beloved's rescue?" Jack asked, looking down at Charlotte, who raised an eyebrow.

She quickly pulled out Jack's pistol from his sash and pointed it at him, clicking the safety off. "I think- and she agrees with me- that I'm better equipped to handle negotiations with a pirate, seeing as both hers and Wills have resulted in less-than desirable results for all parties involved, much less themselves."

Jack grinned. "You're on your own, love. But I'll tell you what _I'm_ going to do once we get to the Isla de Muerta. Norrington, his little Navy-men, and myself will row out to entrance of the Isla de Muerta, and I will go in on my own, make sure they lift the curse, and send all the pirates out, where they will be ambushed by Norrington's men."

"And what of Will, Elizabeth, and myself?" she asked, looking at Jack's reactions carefully.

"Mr. Turner will be well equipped to get out on his own- and reunite himself with his bonnie lass, especially once I've shot Barbossa. I will then head off to the Pearl and claim it as mine once more, before rowing off into the night."

"That just leave me," Charlotte said pointedly, moving the pistol away from Jack's head. "Where do I go, because I certainly cannot go back to Port Royal. One small mistake could result with me in jail, or being hanged."

Jack considered this for a moment, "You could come with me?" he suggested. "The sea, a ship, no rules, and you could do whatever you want, which – incidentally- is what you want anyway."

Charlotte nodded as she gave Jack his pistol back, "Well that's settled, I'll see you on the Pearl then," she said, before blowing out the match, as her other hand opened the door.

Just then, Jack quickly grabbed her arm and forced the door shut, "Offer's still on," he said, looking down at where he knew her face was.

"Perhaps I'll take you up on it - once we get out of this entire mess," she said, before opening the door and heading out, leaving Jack to stand in the closet, looking thoroughly confused.

"What just happened?" he asked himself, running over the entire conversation in his head. When he got to the end he smiled, "Oh."

Charlotte quickly headed back to the Governor's quarters, where Elizabeth had worn the carpet down from her pacing. "What did Sparrow say?" she asked, the minute Charlotte had closed and locked the door.

"He told me part of his plan, as the rest of it was probably a lie. What we need to do is find away to get off of this ship and row over to the Pearl, and from there, we need to get the crew of the Interceptor- if they aren't dead- and head into one of the side entrances of the caves. Then we help rescue Will, get Jack back to his ship and Will and yourself back to the Dauntless, so you can go back to Port Royal."

Elizabeth shook her head, "and what about you? Where are you going?"

"With Jack," she replied simply. She saw Elizabeth's face turn into one of shock, before he mouth opened. Raising a hand before Elizabeth could interrupt, Charlotte continued, "I can't spend my entire life living in Norrington's legal confinement. If I even breath the wrong way, he's sending me to prison. I know it. Will is automatically granted immunity because of your father's wish to see you happy, even if that means you don't marry Norrington."

"But why Jack? Surely you could sneak onto any ship once we get to Port Royal-" Elizabeth said, before stopping.

"He offered me the chance to go with him. And I want to take it," she said. "He doesn't think of me as an inferior anymore, we're equals. And that's the kind of Captain worth working for."

Elizabeth sighed, "So I take it you won't be coming to the wedding."

Charlotte grimaced, "Sorry about that."

The pair sat there for a few moments before heading back out onto the deck, where Norrington was getting the men into longboats. Jack was with them, and turned to the pair before giving Charlotte a wink, and sitting next to Norrington, a look of disgust appearing on both men's faces.

They watched in silence as the boats were lowered and released, the men rowing quickly towards the small island, consumed by fog. Elizabeth suddenly turned to Charlotte, "Do they know about the curse?" she asked.

Charlotte looked confused before remembering what Jack had told her, "I think he conveniently forgot to mention it."

Norrington was still giving the men orders as the boats reached the caves. "I don't care for the situation. Any attempt to storm the caves should turn to an ambush."

Jack rolled his eyes before speaking, "Not if you're the one doing the ambushing." He paused before reciting his falsified version of potential events. "I go in. I convince Barbossa to send his men out with their little boats. You and your mates return to the Dauntless and blast the bejesus outta them with your little cannons, eh?" he threw an arm around Norrington's shoulder, really getting into his stride. "What do you have to lose?"

Norrington peeled Jack's arm off of him, "nothing I'd lament being rid of."

Jack grinned, realizing he could finally use Elizabeth's acceptance as leverage over the Commodore. "Now, to be quite honest with you, there's still a slight risk for those aboard the Dauntless, which includes the future Mrs. Commodore."

Norrington turned to look at him, "Elizabeth will be fine aboard the Dauntless. Those alongside her are well equipped to deal with pirates, no matter their skill level."

Jack nodded, "suit yourself mate." He sat next to Norrington twiddling his thumbs and waiting for Norrington to agree, which shouldn't take long. The Commodore's hesitant tone made Jack sure he'd won this battle.

Elizabeth quickly ran over to Gillette, who attempted to drag both her and Charlotte back into the Governor's room. "It's for your own safety," said Gillette, as he dragged them back.

"Coward! The commodore ordered- I have to tell him! The pirates!" Elizabeth yelled, as she was thrust into the room.

Charlotte charged forward, trying to duck under Gillette's arms, which wrapped around her waist and threw her next to Elizabeth. "They're cursed! They cannot be killed!"

Gillette placed either hand on the door handles, blocking their way. "Don't worry, miss, he's already informed of that." The pair shared a look of relief, as Gillette continued, "A little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him the whole story!" he shut the doors and locked them.

"This is Jack Sparrow's doing!" cried Elizabeth, slamming her hand repeatedly on the door.

Meanwhile, Jack had managed to convince Norrington to let him send the pirates out. He rowed off to the Isla de Muerta, praying that Charlotte had found a way to get to the Pearl. He quickly docked his boat, and weaved his way through the tunnels of the caves, until he could see the rest of the Pearl's crew, Barbossa, Will, and the chest. He hid himself in one of the smaller tunnels, so he could wait to reveal himself at the opportune moment.

Pintel and Ragetti dragged Will up towards the chest, where Barbossa was waiting, knife in hand and a wicked gleam on his face. "No reason to fret" said Pintel, "It's just a prick of the finger, a few drops of blood."

Will gave him an annoyed look, and was about to comment on his lack of enthusiasm at this advice, when Twigg interrupted. "No mistakes this time. He's only half-Turner. We spill it all!" the pirates surrounding them cheered as Will stood over the chest.

"Guess there is reason to fret" Pintel said to Ragetti.

Jack took a deep breath and headed into the cave. The pirates were spread throughout the area, and he found himself asking some of them to move, "Beg your pardon," he said to the Bo'sun, who stepped away in disbelief. Those around him spotted Jack and whispered excitedly, moving their hands towards their weapons.

Barbossa, however, had begun his speech once more, his knife resting against Will's throat. "Begun by blood…"

"Excuse me," said Jack audibly, causing both Barbossa and Will to look at him in shock.

"Jack!" yelled Will, looking both relieved and confused.

"S'not possible," Barbossa whispered, his hand holding he knife hanging limply by his side. He eyed Jack with fear as the young pirate approached.

Jack raised a hand, "not probable," he corrected, with a smile.

Will suddenly jumped in, "Where's Elizabeth?" he yelled, wondering how Jack could have managed to strap the three of them onto a bunch of sea turtles.

Jack sighed internally, "She's safe, just like _I_ promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like _she_ promised. And you get to die for her, just like _you_ promised. And Charlotte is going to help me get the Pearl, just like _she_ promised. So we're all men of our word really… except for Elizabeth and Charlotte, who are, in fact, women."

Barbossa rolled his eyes, "Shut up! You're next." He leaned in and was going to slit Will's throat, when Jack edged closer.

"You don't want to be doing that, mate" he said, gesturing to Will, grimacing.

"No, I really think I do."

Jack shrugged and clasped his hands behind him, rocking back and forth on his heels, "Your funeral."

Barbossa lowered his knife, "Why don't I want to be doing it?" he asked, looking at Jack with moderate interest.

Jack stepped forward, "Well, because" he felt a hand grab at his shoulder, and quickly slapped it off. "because the HMS Dauntless, pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just offshore. Waiting for you."

Murtogg looked over at Mullroy, both were gripping their rifles tightly. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

"The pirates come out, unprepared and unawares, we catch 'em in the crossfire, send them down to see Old Hob," said Mullroy, looking at his friend with a look of infuriating superiority.

Murtogg rolled his eyes, "I know _why_ we're here. I mean, why aren't we doing what it was- what Mr. Sparrow said we should do. With the cannons and all?"

Norrington sighed, and looked down at the pair with distaste. "Because it was Mr. Sparrow who said it," he replied, monotonously.

"You think he wasn't telling the truth?" asked Murtogg, causing everyone in the longboat to turn and give him a withering look. Norrington rolled his eyes and looked up at the sky mouthing something that looked at awful lot like "why me?"

Jack was still haggling with Barbossa, as Will's back began to ache from standing hunched over a chest. "Just hear me out mate. You order your men to row out to the Dauntless. They do what they do best. Robert's your uncle, Fannie's your aunt, there you are with two ships. The makings of your vary own fleet. 'Course you'll take the grandest as your flagship, and who's to argue? But what of the Pearl? Name me Captain, I'll sail under your colours, I'll give you ten percent of me plunder and you get to introduce yourself as. Commodore Barbossa. Savvy?"

Barbossa looked at him warily, "I s'pose in exchange, you want me to not kill the whelp."

Jack grinned and considered Will before waving a hand, "No, no, not at all. By all mean, kill the whelp. Just not yet. Wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment. For instance…" he ran an hand along the coins in the chest and picked some up. "after you've killed Norrington's men…." He dropped a single coin with every word he spoke, "every… last… one." He slid one of the coins into the sleeve of his shirt, and waved a hand over the chest, to make it look as though he'd replaced them all.

Will noticed this, but elected not to say anything. Rather he commented it on an offhandedly; "You've been planning this from the beginning. Ever since you learned my name."

Jack looked at him with wide eyes and a grin, "Yeah." He turned back to Barbossa who was still considering Jack's proposed plan.

"I want fifty percent of your plunder," he said, causing Jack to smile, now they were just haggling over price.

"Fifteen." Jack said.

"Forty" Barbossa yelled.

"Twenty-five," said Jack, "and I'll buy you the hat. A really big one… Commodore."

Barbossa nodded, and stuck out his hand, "We have an accord."

Jack shook his hand and turned to the pirates, "All hands to the boats!" he cried joviantly. The pirates looked at him, and them past him to Barbossa, who looked at Jack askance. "Apologies" he said folding his hands, "You give the orders," he shuffled sideways so as not to block Barbossa.

Barbossa stepped forward; his arms outstretched "Gents… take a walk."

The pirates grinned and muttered in excitement as they headed out of the cave. Jack turned to Barbossa, "not to the boats?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.


	18. Chapter 18

Elizabeth was wearing down the carpet with her pacing, as they waited for an idea to strike. Charlotte stared out of the large window, out to the island in the near distance, covered with a haze of fog. Suddenly, she looked down and spotted a small boat, with two oars just visible on the seats. She smirked, as she thought of Jack's offer, _he'd planted the boat there, knowing full well that the two women would be forced into the largest room for protection._ Then, suddenly, Charlotte got up and began to strip the bedsheets. "What are-" Elizabeth asked looking at her friend, confused.

"We tie the sheets together, and make a rope. It'll be long enough for us to throw out of the window, and we can row over to the Pearl, and free the crew. Then we head over to the Isla de Muerta and find Will."

Elizabeth nodded and helped her tie the knots. "How are we going to get a boat? Or are we swimming?"

Charlotte looked up at her, grinning, "Jack's already given us the answer," she said, nodding to the window.

Elizabeth quickly ran over and peered out into the water. "Look straight down," Charlotte instructed. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and spotted the small rowboat below the window. She quickly rushed back and within minutes, they'd constructed a long enough makeshift rope. Just then, there was aloud creak and the pair stopped, spotting a figure through the stained glass windows of the doors. "Elizabeth?" said the voice. It was her father, "I just want you to know I, uh, I believe you made a very good decision today. Couldn't be more proud of you."

Elizabeth let Charlotte down first. As her father spoke she tied her end of the rope to the bedpost. "But, you know, even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a wrong decision."

Elizabeth ignored this and followed Charlotte down to the boat. The pair each took up an oar and began rowing feverishly towards the Pearl, whose outline could be seen in the distance.

The pirates headed down to the sea floor, while Pintel and Ragetti were forced into dressed, and rowed out into the wide waters, hollering and waving to the Dauntless, in an attempt to distract them from the ambush.

Norrington spotted them first, and quickly grabbed the telescope closest to him. The rest of the men aimed their weapons, waiting for Norrington's orders. "Hold fire," he said, spotting the two pirates dressed as women. From his distance, they looked quite normal, and he watched them carefully, confused as to where they'd come from.

Ragetti twirled the pararsol as Pintel rowed with a disgusted look on his face. "This is just like what the Greeks done at Troy. 'Cept they was in a horse… instead of dresses." He picked at the hem of his dress, while Pintel rolled his eyes. "Wooden horse." He looked at the members of both the Dauntless and the longboats that were docked at the Isla de Muerta, making sure all focus was on them.

Meanwhile, the pirates had reached the Dauntless, and were climbing the ropes anchoring the ship, grinning maniacally, as they thought of the curse finally being lifted.

Meanwhile, one of the sailors of the Dauntless had spotted the two "women" in their boat. "Lieutenant?" he said, looking over at Gillette, who grabbed the scope and watched the two figures intently.

"Yoo hoo," squealed Ragetti at the Dauntless as the ship grew closer.

Governor Swann continued to talk, but after a few minutes he realized that Elizabeth hadn't responded to a single word he'd said. "Elizabeth?" he asked, peering through the glass. "Are you there? Elizabeth, are you even listening to me?" he asked, getting annoyed. He opened the door, expecting to see his daughter lying on the bed sobbing, while her best friend comforted her. Instead, the sight of a makeshift rope leading out of the window greeted him. He ran over to it and spotted a small boat rowing out into the distance. "Oh, what have you done?" he whimpered, watching the dinghy get smaller and smaller.

Ragetti continued to wave and squeal at she ship, his voice echoing across thes till waters. "Ooooh!"

Pintel had had enough. He was forced into a dress, being used as bait, and now he was supposed to plaster a smile on his face and enjoy it. "Stop that!" he yelled at Ragetti, who turned to him, "Already feel like a fool."

Ragetti frowned, "You look nice, though."

Pintel's eyes widened in disbelief and anger. "I look nice?!" he yelled, letting go of the oars, and grabbing Pintel's parasol, which had been blocking their faces the entire time, and began to beat him over the head with it.

Gillette quickly spotted this and turned around to tell the soldiers to ignore the small boat when he spotted a large group of pirates with their swords drawn ascending the staircase. The Dauntless' crew quickly grabbed their pistols and swords, and began to fight.

Meanwhile, Jack wandered around the cave, examining random pieces of treasure, while he waited for the opportune moment. He'd gauged that the pirates would have reached the Dauntless by now, and was hoping Charlotte had spotted the small boat he'd pushed around the ship and left hanging by the Governor's windows.

Will's hands were tied behind his back, and he was flanked by two pirates as a few more stood guard around the main entrance. Barbossa turned to Jack, who had just picketed up a large golden statue of a man sitting cross-legged. "I must admit, Jack, I thought I had ye figured. But it turns out that you're a hard man to predict."

Jack turned to him, and tossed the statue aside with a loud clang. "Me? I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest." He drew nearer to Barbossa and Will as he spoke. "Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly…." He looked at Will and winked, "stupid." Quickly, his hand reached towards a nearby pirate's sword and tossed it to Will.

Barbossa stood there in shock as Will cut the ropes off of his wrists as he fought two other pirates. Suddenly, he noticed Jack gravitating towards him, and quickly unsheathed his sword, the pair locked in battle.

Jack managed to defend himself relatively easily, his one offensive move resulting in him cutting off one of the feathers that stuck up off of Barbossa's horrible hat, the cursed Captain began to charge at Jack, and their swords crossed in an X. Barbossa leaned in, "You're off the edge of the map, mate. Here there be monsters!" He spun Jack around, pushing him as he went.

Will continued to fight, and for the first time of his life, as he backed into a pool of water, one of the pirates entered the moonlight and Will saw who they really were. The skeleton had rotting flesh and decayed clothing, but continued to fight as though he were still mortal. Will stared in horror before realizing the pirate was ready to attack once more.

Charlotte and Elizabeth hopped over the railing and tiptoed towards the staircase towards the brig. Suddenly, Jack the Monkey appeared dangling in front of them, screeching wildly, his eyes wide. Elizabeth backed away in horror before, eyeing the monkey thoughtfully.

Jack looked at her, confused that Elizabeth's reaction had changed. Elizabeth and Charlotte shared a look before they grabbed the monkey and threw him over the side of the ship, where he landed on a cannon sticking out. The pair peered over the railing, and watched as the monkey landed in the water. Just then, two pirates stuck their head out of the porthole, and were about to look up. Charlotte grabbed Elizabeth and the pair tiptoed down the stairs, ducking into one of the other rooms, and the two pirates clambered up.

They made straight for the hold and found the crew of the Pearl locked together. It's Elizabeth and Charlotte!" cried Gibbs, as he saw them.

Charlotte grabbed the key off of the hook and unlocked the cell, allowing the pistols to come out and grab their swords and pistols. "Come on, we've got to save Jack."

"And Will!" said Elizabeth.

"Yeah, him too," said Charlotte, smirking as they ascended the stairs.

Pintel and Ragetti quickly clambered onto the Dauntless and began to load the cannons, firing at the boats docked by the Isla. One of the impaled Navy members headed over towards a large bell and began to ring it before being stabbed.

Norrington looked over at the ship and the sounds of battle reached his ears. "Make for the ship! Move!" The soldiers began to row back to the Dauntless.

"You can't beat me, Jack!" Barbossa yelled as they fought up a large ridge in the cave. The pair continued to fight, when Jack spotted an opening in Barbossa's defence. He quickly slipped sideways and impaled him with his sword. Jack looked up at Barbossa, grinning, before letting go of the handle.

Barbossa sighed, rolling his eyes, before he grabbed the hilt of the sword, removed it, and shoved it into Jack's chest, smiling. Jack staggered backwards into the moonlight, to reveal his skeleton. He raised a hand and wiggled his fingers, "That's interesting," he said, remembering the Kohler's hand in the cell. He wiggled his sleeve back and the medallion he'd taken suddenly appeared. The Aztec gold coin rippled over his fingers and he looked at Barbossa with a grin. "Couldn't resist, mate."

Barbossa huffed in anger, and thrust his sword at Jack, who pulled his out of is chest and blocked it. Barbossa quickly grabbed a fistful of coins from a large pile nearby and threw them at Jack, hoping the medallion would get lost. Jack held on to his coin, and moved away from the moonlight, Barbossa chasing after him. Jack quickly upset a table, blocking Barbossa, "sorry!"

Back on the Black Pearl, the crew of the Interceptor along with Charlotte and Elizabeth pushed the longboat across the deck, causing the two pirates that had been looking for Elizabeth and Charlotte to fly over the railing and into the sea.

Elizabeth ran forward, "All of you, with me!" cried Charlotte. "Jack and Will are in that cave and we must save them."

The pair grabbed a rope each, "Ready? And heave!" cried Elizabeth. The longboat barely moved and they turned to the crew, who looked at them guiltily. "Please, we need your help! Come on!" said Elizabeth exasperatedly.

Cotton's parrot squawked, "any port in the storm."

Elizabeth looked confused while Charlotte wore a look of outrage. "Cotton's right," said Gibbs, nodding to the crew behind him. "We've got the Pearl."

"And what about Jack? Are we just supposed to leave him?!" Charlotte yelled, a hand on her pistol. Elizabeth grabbed her friend's arm, knowing that she was probably serious about shooting someone right now.

"Jack owes us a ship" said Marty, as the others nodded in agreement.

"And there's the Code to consider," said Gibbs, his arms outreached as he moved closer to Charlotte, who rolled her eyes.

"The code? You're pirates! Hang the code!" Charlotte yelled.

"And hang the rules! They're more like guidelines anyway," Elizabeth added, smirking slightly.

The crew huddled together and whispered, leaving Charlotte and Elizabeth alone, tapping their feet. Gibbs turned around, "we'll help you leave."

The two girls rowed off towards one of the many entrances in to the Isla de Muerta. "Bloody pirates," muttered Charlotte as she rowed. Elizabeth watched as the Pearl sailed off into the night.

When they reached the cave, they heard the sounds of fighting, and immediately ran into the room. Charlotte spotted Jack and Barbossa fighting on the far side, while Will fought against three pirates, all of whom could not die. One of the pirates a few feet away threw a bomb, which exploded at Will's feet. Barbossa and Jack looked over for a moment before continuing to fight. Will dove out of the way, his sword skittering across the floor of the cave. Jacoby, the pirate who'd thrown the bomb unsheathed his sword and stood over Will, smiling sadistically. "I'm going to teach you the meaning of pain!" he yelled, raising his sword.

Elizabeth quickly picked up a large golden pole, and crept behind the pirate, "You like pain?" she asked, causing the pirate to jump and turn to face her while Will watched in shock, as she emerged from the fog. Together she and Charlotte swing the gaffe, knocking the pirate down. "Try wearing a corset."

Will looked up at the pair, smiling. Elizabeth grinned back while Charlotte fended off another pirate. Elizabeth helped will up with the gaffe, looking around for Jack. Just then, she spotted Barbossa fighting with a skeleton, which looked an awful lot like Jack. "Whose side is Jack on?" she asked.

Will who recovered his sword and shrugged, "at the moment?"

"I knew he was lying," Charlotte said, as she approached the pair, having just beheaded one of the undead pirates.

The trio nodded as if to say, "who can tell," before the three pirates behind them began to attack once more.

Jacoby, the bomb-thrower, produced another one, lighting it with a smile. Charlotte smirks, before parrying the pirates' blows and moving them into the moonlight, where they became skeletal. Will and Elizabeth thrust the gaffe through the three pirates, with Jacoby in the middle. Charlotte grabbed one of the pirate's bombs, lit the fuse, and shoved it into his rib cage, before Will and Elizabeth pushed them out of the moonlight.

Jacoby clutched at his chest, which was now covered with flesh, "No fair!" he said, his mouth spewing fire as he watched the three of them back away.

Will grabbed Elizabeth and shielded her while Charlotte ducked behind a pile of treasure. The bomb exploded, scattering the skeletal remains of the three pirates everywhere.

On the other side of the cave, Barbossa ignored the bomb, and continued to parry at Jack, slashing wildly, frustrated beyond all measure. "So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to me two immortals, locked in an epic battle 'till Judgment Day and trumpets sound? Hmm?"

Jack grinned, "or you could give up." Jack waited as Barbossa thrust him away, furious. He quickly used his sword, slicing his hand and letting the blood get onto the medallion, as Barbossa charged. He tossed it to Will who grabbed it, and headed over to the chest.

Barbossa engaged Jack in the duel once more, but from the corner of his eye, noticed Will's movements. Suddenly, he pulled out his pistol, clicked the safety off, and pointed it at Elizabeth, who stopped dead in her tracks.

Charlotte quickly ran in front, blocking Elizabeth from Barbossa's shot and looked at Will, with a nod.

Just then, a shot rang out, and Charlotte felt a searing pain in her left arm. She looked over to Jack- smiling, whose gun was pointed at Barbossa, smoke issuing from the bullet chamber.

Barbossa looked at Jack, his eyebrows raised as he grinned. "Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot?"

"He didn't waste it!" Will yelled, causing Barbossa to look at him. He saw Will standing above the opened chest, one hand holding a knife, the other in a fist. He opened his hand, and both his and Jack's medallions fell into the chest, his hand bleeding profusely.

Barbossa dropped his gun and opened his jacket, looking at his chest. A single bullet wound to the heart began to bleed, and Jack lowered his pistol, eyeing Barbossa with a smirk.

Barbossa looked up at Jack, in a mixture of anger and dismay. Suddenly a look of relief appeared. "I feel….cold," he whispered, before collapsing onto a pile of gold behind him. His hand opened, and a single green apple rolled onto the floor, as his eyes rolled back into his head.

Back on the Dauntless, Norrington continued to fight Koehler, his blade embedded in the man's abdomen. He pulls it back and finds the blade soaked in blood. He looks up at Koehler, who is surprised. Suddenly he collapses on the floor, in pain.

In the Governor's room, the desk stopped rattling, and Swann hesitantly opens the drawer, to see a severed hand. The smell fills his nostrils, as he slams the drawer shut, a disgusted look on his face.

Tiwgg watches as Koehler falls, and looks to Norrington in surprise. He then looks at the full moon, bathing the upper deck in light. Norrington turns to Twigg and places his blade against the man's throat, Twigg gulped before dropping his sword and raising his hands.

The other pirates follow suit, as the Navy members train their weapons on them. Ragetti, who was still chasing after his wooden eye, manages to grab it and puts it back in as he stands up. He looks up and sees Pintel standing with his hands in the air, and looks over at the Navy members, one of whom has a gun trained on Ragetti.

Mullroy and Murtogg give each other a grin, before looking back at Pintel and Ragetti with distaste.

"Parley?" Pintel asks, looking quite guilty.

Norrington was the first to speak, "the ship is ours gentlemen!" He raised his sword high as the solders began to cheer.

Swann notices this, and comes out of the cabin, joining the cheers, and wagging a finger at a nearby pirate, before pretending to punch him. "Huzzah!"

Jack rushed over to Charlotte, who'd managed to remove the bullet from her arm with the help of a pair of sterling silver tweezers. "You alright love?" he asked, looking down at her arm.

She smirked, "I've had worse." The pair looked down at her ankle, which was still quite swollen. She ripped some of the lining of the navy jacket she'd taken and began to wrap it around her arm.

Jack pushed her hands away, and quickly tied it, before looking back at her, "are you sure you're okay?"

Charlotte averted her gaze, and nodded, not knowing when would be the right moment to tell Jack that Gibbs and the rest of the crew had taken the ship.

She wandered around the cave, as Jack began to dig through the various treasures in the cave. She walked up to the chest, and saw the hundreds of medallions…. " _What would happen if I took one?"_ she thought.

Elizabeth stood by a pool of water, unsure of what to say to Charlotte, who'd risked her life countless times to save her. Just then, Will moved by her side, and she looked up at him, their eyes meeting.

Will turned to her, his arms open as she embraced him. He looked down and noticed that – for once- she was actually looking at him the way he looked at her. He bent down slightly, and was a millimeter away from kissing her when a loud crash echoed through the cave.

They turned and watched as Jack, decked in a crown, with various jeweled necklaces around his neck, continued to sort through the golden treasures.

Elizabeth looked up at Will, who was quite annoyed that Jack had ruined the moment. "We should return to the Dauntless."

Will nodded sadly, "Your fiancé will be wanting to know you're safe." Elizabeth looked up at him, and realized that Jack must have told him about the engagement. Will looked away quickly as she turned and headed out of the cave.

Jack wandered over to where Charlotte stood, looking at the Aztec gold sadly. "We could both take one," he suggested, "Then you'd have to deal with me all the time."

She smiled, and looked up at him, "I like that. I could shoot you every time you annoyed me and you'd still keep coming back." They paused, looking at one another when Jack quickly thrust the bag of treasure he'd picked up in her arms. "What are-" she began, as Jack dug around deep in his pocket.

"Have it here…. Ah ha!" he said, his face lighting up as he produced a small necklace. A single black pearl hung from the long golden chain. Jack paused before throwing it around her neck, "the offer's still on… for a few things" he said, wiggling his eyebrows, with a grin.

Charlotte's eyes began to water slightly, as Jack took the bag of swag from her arms. "We should go," she said, turning around and following Elizabeth out.

Jack watched her, confused, as he reached Will, who'd just let Elizabeth slip from his fingers. "If we were waiting for the opportune moment…. That was it," he said, pointing to Elizabeth and Charlotte who headed out of the cave together.

Will rolled his eyes as Jack followed the two women, "Now, if you'd be so kind," he said, dropping the bag into the only remaining longboat and sitting next to Charlotte, "I'd be much obliged if you drop me at my ship." He threw an arm over Charlotte's shoulder, "or our ship, potentially."

Charlotte looked up at him, "The Black Pearl is gone, Jack."

Jack moved his arm, looking down at her, "what?"

Charlotte took a deep breath before explaining, "Elizabeth and I saw the boat you left, and we rowed over to the Pearl to free the others. But when we tried to get them to come here and help you, they stuck to the Code." She looked up at him, waiting for his response.

"Any man who falls behind, is left behind," he muttered, looking thoroughly downcast.

"I'm sorry Jack," said Elizabeth, looking at the pirate who'd gone all this way to help them, but had gotten no recompense.

Will began to row them out to the Dauntless, which stood high against the moonlight.

Jack spoke, looking at the water as though he wished nothing more than to jump in and drown, "They done what's right by them. Can't expect more than that," he said dully.

Will cast Jack a look over his shoulder that read, "you should expect more than that."

Charlotte wrapped an arm around his waist and hesitantly placed a head on his shoulder, as they neared the Dauntless. Jack placed his on top of hers, and somehow, his hand found hers. "You would have been a good co-captain," he whispered into her ear. "From what I've seen, you'd have made an excellent pirate."

"If being a pirate means having a sense of morality, I'd sure as hell be the best one," she said, remembering all the times she'd had to guide Jack around the crew.

When they reached the Dauntless, Elizabeth found herself immediately in the hands of both her father and Norrington. "You should get cleaned up," her father said, attempting to usher her into the room she and Charlotte had shared. Elizabeth turned and watched as Norrington regarded Will, Charlotte, and Jack.

He looked to Will first, "Mr. Turner. While you have engaged in acts of piracy, I cannot deny that you have returned Miss Swann to us without any harm. On that and the Governor's orders, you can remain a free man."

Will nodded, "Thank you Commodore," he said, before stepping aside, as Norrington watched Jack and Charlotte with a smile.

"Mr. Sparrow? Where is your ship?" he asked, gloatingly. Charlotte's hands curled into fists, while Jack looked at Norrington with distaste.

"I left it in the command of my crew. Temporarily," he added, with a smile.

Norrington nodded to Gillette, who began to fasten one pair irons around Jack's hands once more. Jack had already known this was going to happen so he placed the bag of gold down and rolled his eyes, sticking out his arms. The adjoining shackles hung next to Charlotte.

Norrington turned to Charlotte, who braced herself for his declaration. "Miss Vaughan. Did I not tell you that further acts of piracy would nullify the Governor's vouching for you?" he asked.

Suddenly Will, Jack, and Elizabeth looked at her in shock, "You can't arrest her!" cried Will, "she's the same as me!"

Jack piped up, "You can not be serious about arresting her Commodore, she did nothing wrong."

"She saved me... Hundreds of times!" Elizabeth yelled, from where she and her father stood.

"Shut up," said Charlotte, raising a hand. The three of them quickly fell silent. "Go on Commodore," she said, looking at Norrington.

Norrington grinned, finally being able to put an end to Charlotte's reign. "As mentioned before, you are not under the protection of the Governor. Therefore, illegal acts that you have committed have now given me the right to throw you in the brig, where you will stay until our arrival to Port Royal, at which time, you will spend one night in jail, and will be hanged the next morning." He nodded to Gillette, who fastened the adjoining pair of shackles to Charlotte's wrists. "Take them to the brig," he said. As the two were marched away by Groves, Elizabeth moved as though to follow them. Norrington stood in front of her, "there will be no contact between you and the prisoners." He looked at Will, "the same goes for you Mr. Turner."

The brig was already full of the pirates from Barbossa's old crew. The pair was led into a middle cell, which was empty. The pirates all turned to look at Jack as they walked by. Jack saw the wooden eyed pirate whisper something to his bald friend and point to Elizabeth.

"We were saving it for you," said Groves to Jack, as he unlocked it and let the pair in. He looked at Charlotte, "If there's anything that can be done to help you, I will try," he said with a smile

Charlotte smiled properly, knowing Groves would keep his word. "I know you will, but don't. You can not risk your job for me, and Norrington wouldn't approve regardless." Groves smiled at her before shutting the door, and locking it. Before he could leave Charlotte called out to him. "Groves! You owe me 20 shillings," she said, reminding him of the bet they'd made weeks ago.

He turned and smiled, before pulling out a small pouch of coins, and passing it to her through the bars, "It may have not gone exactly as planned- but then again, does it ever?" he said, before exiting the hold.

Charlotte tucked the pouch into her pocket as Jack watched her with interest, "What?" she asked, looking at him.

"What was that about? Why is he so nice to you? He looks like a miniature Norrington!" Jack said, sitting down heavily on the bench, dragging Charlotte with him by default.

She sat down next to him, and watched as he turned his back to her. "He used to watch me sometimes, after my maid died. If anyone was my brother, it was him." She looked up at Jack, who'd turned towards her, "you have nothing to be jealous of. I still like you better," she said with a smile as she threw her arms around Jack's shoulders.

A loud groan made it's way through he holding as the pirates watched the pair in annoyance. "Give it a rest!" said the wooden eyed pirate, as his friend nodded.

"We don't need you dangling the wench in front of us!" Twigg added.

"Unless we get to share," said another pirate, who winked at Charlotte.

She rolled her eyes, "I'd rather join Davy Jones in holy matrimony than ever go near any of you," she said scathingly, causing the pirates to shut up.

Jack laughed, as he rested his head on hers, "That's my Charlotte," he whispered.

"You used my name for once!" she said, looking at him in surprise.

Jack grinned, "Well, we don't have much time, love, so I thought I might as well."

Charlotte rolled her eyes before saying, "We have an eternity together, Jack."

Jack's smile lessened, "what do you mean?" he asked, innocently. Charlotte rolled her eyes, before sticking a hand in Jack's pocket. He watched her in dismay, "What are you-" he stopped as she pulled out a golden Aztec coin. He shrugged, before sticking a hand in her jacket pocket and pulling out an identical coin. "You too?" he asked.

Another groan made its way through the hold, "I never want to see a coin again!" cried Pintel, as he banged his head against the bars.

"Sometimes you need a backup plan," Charlotte countered with a smile, as they switched coins and placed them back in their pockets. "That hanging is going to be quite some fun," she said.

"I can picture Norrington's reaction already…"said Jack, closing his eyes and resting back on the wooden hull of the ship.

 **Bet you didn't expect that! Let me know what you think. The story isn't over yet, I still have a few chapters left, but I won't be posting till Monday, cause… "brace yourselves, the exams are coming!"**

 **Keep your eyes open for a new Marauders chapter!**


	19. Chapter 19

The moment the Dauntless docked at Port Royal, the pirates where quickly transported from the hold into Fort Charles. Sadly, it was Norrington who decided to take care of marching Charlotte and Jack out of the ship, rather than Groves, who would have been likely to give them a bit more time in the sun and air, before dragging them deep into the cells of the Fort.

Charlotte hesitated before stepping off of the ship and following Jack down the plank. Sure enough, there was a loud roar from the crowd, which was filled with both merchants and high standing peoples. A few of the women present held their hands to their chests and foreheads, dramatically. Charlotte rolled her eyes, and they landed on Elizabeth, who was standing a few feet away.

"I am so sorry," Elizabeth mouthed, as her father helped her into a horse drawn carriage.

Charlotte gave a slight nod of the head, as she followed Jack up to the fort. A few feet away, she passed Will, who looked as though he wanted to say something, but the glare he received from Norrington forced him into silence. As soon as they'd passed, he headed back to his house, which sat on the other side of the island, overlooking some cliffs.

Charlotte looked straight ahead, as they wandered through the Fort, which was still damaged from the attack all those weeks ago. As they passed, she fondly remembered how she had led Will and Jack to freedom, after springing the latter from prison.

As they wandered down, Norrington turned to the pair, "You'll be sharing cells, I hope that is all right," he said, opening the very last cell. Three of the four walls were made of stone, and the door was a solid block of iron, with a small flap at the bottom for food, and a tiny hole near the top for the soliders to be able to check on the inmate. Other than that, the only source of light came from the barred window at the top of the back wall. He shoved the pair in, before locking it.

The pair paused before they could hear Norrington's faint footsteps fall away. Charlotte would have liked to pace up and down the small length of the cell (which was about eight feet by eight feet), but Jack quickly sat down, dragging her with him.

"That ankle of yours still hurt?" he asked, nudging her leg with his.

She rested her head on his shoulder, "No, but that might be because of the …. Thing."

Jack gave her a questioning look and she nodded to the door, "you never know who could be standing there, watching us," she said.

Jack rolled his eyes, "I never thought you were one to care," he replied, his golden teeth glinting as he grinned at her.

She smirked, "Well, if I was planning to escape, I wouldn't want to be overheard," she whispered into his ear. "Unlike some, who prefer the grandest of entrances."

"I regret nothing," Jack said, "but you have to admit, my entrances tend to be unforgettable."

"Of course they are Jack," Charlotte said, rolling her eyes, glad that he couldn't see her properly.

"I know you well enough to detect sarcasm," Jack replied knowingly, closing his eyes. While he knew that they were going to be just fine at the hanging tomorrow, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that this was going to be his last time alone with Charlotte. "So, what do you want to do once we get out of here?" he asked.

"I dunno really. Haven't given it much thought. I was too busy trying to make sure we can get out of here." Just then, they heard someone coming down the hallway, and stop by their cell.

"Hello?" the voice said. "Charlotte? Jack?"

"Will?" replied Charlotte, quickly sitting up at looking at the door warily, "what are you doing down here? You could get caught."

"And we don't have a plan for three," Jack whispered into Charlotte's ear. He found himself on the receiving end of one of her withering looks, before he said, "Whelp, why have you come?"

Just then, the flap at the bottom of the door opened and a single green apple rolled in. Jack moved forwards to pick it up. "Mate, is this some kind of twisted joke?" Jack asked, before taking a bite. He was about to take another one before remembering that Charlotte was with him as well. He turned to her and smiled as he chewed, offering her the unbitten side.

She glared at him before, speaking to Will once more. "Norrington will have your head on a stick if you keep this up. Get out of here, now!" she said.

"No," replied Will, as he stuck some more food into the cell through the flap. After walking for a few moments in the direction of his house, he'd quickly run to the kitchen in the Swann's manor, and grabbed a basket full of food from the table, before heading back to the Fort. "You've done too much for Elizabeth and I to be left for dead."

"Jack and I don't need your help-" she began as she sat by the flap to be able to hear Will better, before Jack interrupted.

"Actually, we might," he said. He turned to Charlotte, "he could help us with the second part of the plan," he whispered. "We need to get out of Port Royal quickly, and dear William here might be able to get us a large enough boat to get out to sea. Then we find the Pearl."

Charlotte turned to him, "And where are you going to get the bearings from Jack? We haven't the slightest clue where Gibbs was taking the rest of the crew."

Jack smirked, before pulling out his compass from his boot. Charlotte raised and eyebrow and Jack pointed to it. "We'll find it with this," he replied with a smirk.

"Are you still there?" Charlotte asked Will, who said yes.

"Brilliant," said Jack, "now, William, this is what I need you to do-"

"Jack, you can trust me. Just make sure that you both look for me at the hanging tomorrow, alright?" Will said, his voice sounding rushed. He could hear someone coming down the hall. "I have to go someone's coming!"

"There's going to be hundreds of people there, how will we spot you?" Charlotte said quickly.

"I'm going to wear a cape and a feathered hat," Will replied, before shoving the rest of the food into the cell and running off.

The pair heard his footsteps echo on the floor of the Fort. Jack turned to Charlotte, munching on the piece of bread. "What do you think? Should we trust him?"

"Has he ever given you a reason not to trust him?" Charlotte whispered with a smirk, as she took a bite of apple.

Jack grinned, "then its settled, we will listen to the whelp." He paused before saying what was on his mind, "there's no going back after we escape, you know that?"

Charlotte lowered the apple and looked at Jack, here eyes slightly watery, "I know. It's just… this is all I've ever known, and its going to be odd, knowing I can never come back."

Jack shifted himself towards her, and placed an arm around her shoulder,"That's a sacrifice all pirates have had to make. Believe me, it's going to be hard at first, but when you get the taste of freedom… knowing you can go anywhere you want. Its worth it."

"Do you ever miss your family Jack?" Charlotte asked suddenly, realizing Jack hadn't ever really spoken about whether he'd ever seen his father after leaving Shipwreck Cove. She felt him stiffen slightly, before relaxing.

"Yes, I have. But it… wasn't exactly the reunion I thought it would be," he replied mysteriously.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "You need to start being more straightforward Jack. What happened?"

He gave a short laugh before saying, "what do I get in return for telling you this?"

Charlotte knew the answer before he'd even asked the question, "I told you everything about my past-and you said you'd tell me everything about yours."

Jack looked at her, his brown eyes glimmering, "Yes love, but that was only valid during the adventure. Right now, we're locked up and the adventure is over."

Charlotte looked back at him, "the adventure is never truly over Jack. It's just a new chapter of the same book."

Jack raised an eyebrow before conceding, "alright then, I'll tell you what happened."

 _Flashback (Jack's POV)_

 _I was running from some of the members of the East India Trading Company. They'd chased me through the seas and I had no other choice except to return to the only land that none of those men could find; Shipwreck Cove. I hadn't been there since I'd left several years ago, but the tales of my many exploits had definitely reached the ears of the older pirates stationed there._

 _I wasn't surprised to see many unfamiliar faces when I'd docked my small ship at the port. Many pirates only saw Shipwreck once or twice in their entire lives, before heading out to sea forever. My grandmother, who'd the largest hand in raising me- was gone, and I knew the only other person on the island who could give me somewhere to stay was my father. So I headed out to the court of the Brethren. The last I'd heard was that Edward Teague was the new keeper of the Code. The only upside to that was it made it easier to find him._

 _It's quite surprising what can happen to a person in the matter of a few years. I wandered into the court, asking those lingering about where the keeper of the code was. It wasn't until someone directed my attention to a small balcony that overlooked the room that I knew where to go. I headed up the small rickety staircase, and got to the landing. It was then that I heard him strumming away on the same guitar he'd been holding the last time I'd seen him._

 _"Jackie," he said, the moment I stepped foot on the landing. His voice seemed raspy and hand a slight edge to it. It made my skin crawl, and that usually never happens._

 _I stepped into a small room, and saw him lounging around on a torn up armchair, the guitar sitting next to him, propped against the wall._

 _I took the other seat opposite him, and waited for my father to being yelling at me for leaving. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything else to me at all for the first few moments. He just stared at me, as though he didn't recognize me at all._

 _I was about to speak when he said, "Why are you back?" he spat, looking at me the way I look at a glass of water._

 _I stayed silent for a moment before admitting; "I needed a place to lie low for a while. The EITC is after me, and I don't fancy being hanged."_

 _"I thought they were your buddies? Or am I wrong in assuming that you once worked for them?" he replied with a knowing look, he lent forward, and produced two bottles of rum from under the table, and passed one to me. "You turned your back on us Jackie, the moment you took their offer."_

 _I rolled my eyes as I uncorked the rum and took a sip, "I didn't turn my back on anyone. I have my reasons for why I did what I did."_

 _"But what were your reasons for leaving, eh?" my father asked me, leaning back in his chair and watching my face carefully. "And don't lie. You know how I feel about liars. I didn't raise an honest man, but I sure as hell didn't raise a liar."_

 _I stared at the table for a moment, before speaking, "I wanted to be a pirate. Like you. I wanted to have my own stories to tell people. I wanted to be a Captain."_

 _"You can't just be a Captian, Jackie. You have to earn the respect that goes with it." He turned to the large book that sat on the table next to him, "You looked it up didn't you. Before you ran."_

 _I bit my lip and looked back down at my shoes, knowing full well that I had been caught. I was so enthralled by the idea of leaving, I'd left the Codex open to that page, and my father had been the one who found it. "I'm sorry," I whispered, not daring ot look up._

 _My father laughed, and said "I didn't expect you to be smart enough to consult the code. But I didn't think you were stupid enough to leave the book open. No wonder they're after you. Probably led them right to yourself." I looked up and grinned, realizing that my father wasn't mad at me at all. "But, what are you going to do now. Go back out there?"_

 _"I'm not done seeing the world yet-"_

 _"You'll never be done seeing the world Jackie. It's the world. It's quite big," he said restlessly. For once I realized why he'd chosen to take on being the keeper of the code. There was no other way he'd ever stayed tied down to one place, unless he hand a responsibility; much like when he'd had me. "I'm not saying you have to come back home now, but you need to be able to understand when it is time to retire. When you've seen as much of the world as you possibly can. Because you'll never know who is going to be left by the time you come home again."_

 _I sat in silence, mulling over my father's words, before a loud knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I turned around and saw one of the men who was part of my crew when I'd docked in Shipwreck, "We'd best be off Captain, don't want to stay in one place too long." He turned around and headed back downstairs as I looked at my father, who nodded._

 _"Go Jackie, before your time runs out," he said, picking up his guitar once more.I nodded, placing my rum on the table and got up. But before I could leave he said, "When are you coming back?"_

 _I looked at him and saw a single tear trace down his face, as he grinned at me. "I…. I don't know."_

 _He nodded, "very well then." I took a few steps before going down the stairs and heading out of the door. My foot had just gone past the doorway of the Court when I heard a loud voice boom behind me, "Be back in time for dinner, boy."_

 _Those words echoed through the back of my head and I quickly remembered the last time I'd seen my father; the day I'd left. Those had been the last words he'd ever said to me._

 _I turned my head slightly and saw my father leaning on the rails of the small balcony, grinning. "Wouldn't miss it for the world," I said smiling, before turning away and heading out of the court._

 _End of Flashback._

Jack looked down at Charlotte, who was smiling. "That is adorable. Your father making sure you made it home."

"Why is it that any time I tell you a story, you always make me seem like some sort of puppy?" Jack asked, giving her a curious look.

Charlotte scoffed, "you do a good enough job of that yourself without my help. You think you are some sort of hardened hooligan, when you are actually not like that at all. You have got to be, without a doubt, one of the strangest pirates I have ever met."

Before Jack could say anything, Charlotte lent back and began to relax, her eyes closing.

Jack watched her until she fell asleep before finally falling suit himself. But before he closed his eyes, he placed a small kiss on her forehead, smirking. "I think you like her," he thought, thinking of his father. He fell asleep to the silence of the Fort and those living outside of it.

Charlotte was the first to wake up, her neck and back aching from sleeping at such a strange angle. She winced as the sunlight hit her face from the small, barred window at the top of the cell. Judging by the dim light, it was just after dawn.

Gently, she shook Jack's shoulder as he snored away, his head in her lap. "Wus-going-on?" he asked, bolting upright, his eyes wide open.

"Well, it's morning time, and I thought we might just run down the plan before they, you know, hang us," Charlotte said conversationally.

Jack grinned as he began piecing the information Will had given them the night before.

A few hours later, when the light had strengthened, Groves arrived outside of the cell. "I know you're probably hungry so…." He slipped the flap open, and slid a plate with two pieces of slightly burnt toast on top. "It's not much-" he began.

"Thanks, Groves. Really," Charlotte said, as she passed a piece to Jack, who quickly stuffed it in his mouth.

"Got anymore, mate?" Jack asked Groves, his voice muffled by the bread.

"Er, no. Sorry," he replied. Charlotte rolled her eyes, and passed Jack another piece and looked back at the door as Groves spoke. "I tried to get Swann to vouch for you, and Elizabeth as well, but Norrington's prevented that from happening. I tried as well, but Norrington then threatened to relieve me of my duties, so I had to be quiet." He paused before saying, "and there's been… talk about your, um, brother."

Charlotte's eyes widened and she moved towards the door quickly, dragging Jack along with her. "What do you mean? Did something happen to him?" Jack gave her a strange look as if to say, "Would it really matter if something did?"

Groves sighed, "No, but word has it that he heard about what you did, and he is not happy."

"Figures, nothing ever makes him happy," she spat, as Jack rubbed her back for support.

"Anyway, if there's anything you need me to do-" he began.

"You've done more than enough for Jack and I, Groves. Thank you," said Charlotte, as she passed the plate back to him.

"I'll see you…later on," he said, before heading back down the hallway.

Charlotte placed her head on the door, "I should have told him about our plan," she murmured.

Jack's eyes widened, "No. Keeping your mouth shut was an excellent idea. What if he was going to scurry back over to Norrington and tell him everything, eh? We cannot trust him completely."

"You ate the toast he gave us without question," Charlotte said, raising an eyebrow in retaliation.

"That's different. It's food. What could be wrong with food, I mean, it's harmless," he said, giving her a patronizing look.

"It could have been poisoned?" She suggested, turning back around to face him.

Jack smirked, "love, they're going to hang us. What would be the point of declaring a hanging for the public to see, if they were just going to poison us anyway?" he finished smartly.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "no one likes a know-it-all, Jack."

Not long after, Norrington's men arrived and proceeded to unlock the door, before ordering the pair to stand straight. One of them unshackled the pair, before tying their hands together so that they would be able to walk properly.

Charlotte followed Jack, two soldiers flanking her, and two behind her. They led the pair through the complex tunnels until they reached the courtyard, where the sun beat heavily on the hundreds of people who'd gathered to watch. In the far distance she could see Elizabeth and her father watching with sadness. Next to the Governor was Norrington, grinning as though he were watching an excellent and comedic play.

Two of the soldiers led the pair up to the gallows, where two nooses hung at the ready. A few feet away stood a soldier holding an incredibly long piece of paper, prepared to address the crowd.

Jack headed to the noose and stood tall, as the executioner looped the rope around his neck. To his left Charlotte stood, as the executioner did the same for her. He gave her a small smile, which she returned before looking out into the crowd, a bored look on her face. Jack quickly placed a look of tiredness on his, and scanned the crowd for Will, who was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly the officer began to speak, "Charlotte Beckett, be it known that you have been sentenced to death for your willful commission of crimes against the crown. Said crimes are piracy, releasing a known fugitive, aiding and abetting a known fugitive, theft, arson, attempted murder, and kidnapping. And for these crimes you have been sentenced to be, on this day, hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy upon your soul." He paused before continuing, "Jack Sparrow, be it known that you have-"

"Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack muttered under his breath causing Charlotte to smirk slightly.

"-for your willful commission of crimes against the crown. Said crimes being numerous in quantity and sinister in nature, the most egregious of these to be cited herewith- piracy, smuggling…."

Elizabeth hung her head down, too disturbed to watch. "This is wrong."

"Commodore Norrington is bound by the law. As are we all," her father said, not looking at her, but rather at Charlotte, his eyes filled with pity.

"-Impersonating an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, impersonating a cleric of the Church of England…"

Jack quickly had a vision of him dressed in a priest's garments and grinned, "Ah, yes." Charlotte gave a slight laugh, which she managed to turn into a small coughing fit, causing the executioner to glare at the both of them in distaste.

"-sailing under false colors, arson, kidnapping, looting, poaching, brigandage, pilfering, depravity, depredation, and general lawlessness. And for these crimes you have been sentenced to be, on this day, hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on your soul."

Suddenly the pair spotted Will, who was walking up the steps towards the Governor, Norrington, and Elizabeth. He was wearing a large hat with a white feather, and a red cape over his shoulders."Governor Swann. Commodore. Elizabeth," he said, nodding to each of them in turn, his eyes resting on Elizabeth. "I should have told you every day from the moment I met you. I love you." He saw the look on her face change from one of sadness to excitement and shock, as he quickly turned away to help the others.

Elizabeth looked at Will as he headed through the crowd, towards the gallows. She looked up and noticed a familiar looking blue and yellow parrot sitting on a staff a few yards away from her, before fluttering away. Suddenly, she realized that the Pearl must have been nearby and Will was going to free the pair, and to do that, he needed a distraction. Under the guise of still being in shock, she turned to Norrington and her father (whi were still in a state of shock as well). "I can't breathe," she said, before falling backwards as the drums sounded.

The Governor and Norrington rushed to help her, forgetting Will. "Elizabeth," said her father, as Elizabeth quickly sat up, her eyes focused only on the gallows.

Will, on the other hand, began to push those around him out of the way. "MOVE!" he yelled, disrupting the entire hanging, and startling those around him. The executioner quickly pulled back the lever, causing the doors underneath Charlotte and Jack's feet to open. Will pulled out two swords, and quickly threw them, so they buried themselves in the wood, giving the pair a foothold.

The soldiers recovered quickly and began to swarm around Will, who began fighting his way onto the gallows' platform, where he produced another sword and engaged the hangman. Suddenly, Will severed the ropes holding Charlotte's noose, and then Jacks, allowing them to fall next to the swords. Nodding, they sliced off their ropes, pulled the swords from where they were embedded in the wood, and ran out from under the platform, attacking soldiers left and right.

Jack still had the length of rope in his hand, and tossed the other end to Will. The pair ran and knocked down a trio of approaching guards, before using the rope to trip the few that were heading down the stairs, causing them to fall face first.

Charlotte followed behind, quickly knocking down the approaching guards as she caught up to them. Will and Jack used the rope, crossed positions, and ran behind a brick pillar, pinning two guards before giving the rope yet another pull and slamming the soldiers into the pillar.

Charlotte used the hilt of the blade to knock out the soldiers nearest to her as she joined the trio who ran towards the edge of the fort. Suddenly, she found herself back to back with Jack and Will, surrounded by the soldiers, all of whom had their guns trained at them.

Jack quickly dropped the rope and sword, before raising his hands. He nudged Charlotte in the back, and she followed suit, glaring at Norrington who approached them with a smirk. He turned to Will, "I thought we might have to endure some manner of ill-conceived escape attempt, but not from you."

Silently Jack and Charlotte thought about the two coins hidden deep in their pockets.

The Governor quickly ran up to Norrington's side, Elizabeth following him closely. "On our return to Port Royal, I granted you clemency. And this is how you thank me? By throwing in your lot with them? They're pirates!"

"And a good man," said Will, echoing Elizabeth's earlier sentiment all those weeks ago. Behind him, Jack pointed to himself proudly, and mouthed "that's me." Charlotte rolled her eyes as Will continued. "Charlotte and Jack risked their lives countless times trying to save both your daughter and myself. If all I have achieved here is that the hangman will earn three pairs of boots instead of one, so be it. At least my conscience will be clear."

Norrington raised and eyebrow as Elizabeth placed a hand to her heart, "You forget your place, Turner."

Will grinned, "it's right here, between you and Jack."

Elizabeth quickly ducked out from beside her father to stand next to Will, "as is mine."

"Elizabeth!" groaned the Governer, "Lower your weapons. For goodness' sakes, put them down!" he yelled to the guards, who quickly followed orders.

Norrington sighed, as he looked at Elizabeth, "So this is where your heard truly lies, then?" he asked.

"It is," she said firmly, looking back at him.

Jack looked around, the moment too awkward for him to bear, when he spotted Cotton's parrot sitting on the wall of the Fort. He nudged Charlotte and nodded to the bird, causing her to smile. "Well! I'm actually feeling rather good about this." He turned to the Governor, "I think we've all arrived at a very special place, eh? Spritaually, Ecumenically…."

"Grammatically," Charlotte interrupted from behind Jack, with a smile, nodding to both Elizabeth and Will, as she slowly moved backwards towards the battlement where Elizabeth had fallen all those weeks ago.

Jack turned to Norrington, "I want you to know that I was rooting for you, mate…. Know that." He then turned to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth… it would have never worked out between us, darling. I'm sorry." Elizabeth rolled her eyes as Jack moved to Will. "Will…." Jack said, looking at the man. "Nice hat." He began walking backwards towards Charlotte, who stood at the edge of the battlement. "Friends! This is the day that you will always remember as the day that-" before he could finish, he fell backwards over the battlement and into the sea.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and looked at the Governor, "Thank you for your many years of help. I will always appreciate it. Norrington, I was always rooting for Will." She turned to Groves, who was half hidden in the sea of soldiers, "I told you I would be fine. If you need anything, ever…. let me know." Finally she turned to Will and Elizabeth. "You better take care of one another. If you do not… I shall know" she finished with a wink, before diving over the edge of the battlement as well.

"Idiots, they have nowhere to go but back to the noose," said Gillette from next to Groves, who was still smiling. "What's your plan of action? Sir?" asked Gillette, turning to Norrington.

Governer Swann was the first to speak, "Perhaps on the rare occasion pursuing the

right course demands an act of piracy, piracy itself can be the right course?" he finished with a smile, as he looked to Norrington, whose eyes were fixed on the sea.

"Mr. Turner," said Norrington suddenly, turning to Will, who stepped forward.

"I accept the consequences of my actions," Will said, causing Elizabeth to turn to him in shock. He wasn't seriously about to let himself be taken away from her and hanged, was he?

Norrington unsheathed his sword, and stared at it, "This is a beautiful sword. I would expect the man who made it to show the same care and devotion in every aspect of his life."

Will nodded, understanding what the Commodore meant, "Thank you."

Gillette turned to Norrington who began to walk away from the battlement. "Commodore! What about Sparrow?"

"I think we can afford to give him one day's head start," he said with a smile as he led the soldiers away.

Governor Swann turned to Elizabeth, who was looking at Will with naught but love in her eyes. "So this is the path you've chosen, is it? After all... He is a blacksmith."

"No," said Elizabeth, as she took of Will's enormous, feathered hat. "He's a pirate," she said, as the Governor walked away. She turned to Will and kissed him, finally allowing herself to break free of her usual traditional abiding ways, and be with the man she truly loved.

Will was torn between passing out due to shock, and jumping of the battlement in excitement. His hands quickly found Elizabeth's waist and he pulled her closer to himself, glad that- for once- something had gone right in his life.

Charlotte and Jack quickly swam towards the Pearl, which was floating hidden behind some large cliffs. Gibbs stood by a rope, which was hanging in the ocean. Jack pushed Charlotte towards it, "ladies first," he said.

She quickly climbed up, Jack following closely behind. Gibbs heaved the pair aboard and smiled at the sight of Jack. "I thought you were supposed to keep to the Code?" Jack asked Gibbs.

"We figured they were more actual… guidelines," he said, helping Jack up.

Cotton quickly handed Jack his hat. "Thank you," Jack said, allowing Charlotte to place the hat gently atop his head at it's usual angle.

"Captain Sparrow," said Anamaria, appearing out of nowhere, holding Jack's coat. She approached him and draped the coat over his shoulders with a small salute, "the Black Pearl is yours." She moved over to where Charlotte stood and gave the girl a smile, "nice to have another woman on board."

"It is," said Charlotte as Gibbs patted her on the back. She lent back against the rails, waiting for Jack to start yelling out orders to the crew. She was part of it now, but a small piece of her wished that Jack had asked her more that just to join his crew. But the man had been through hell, and she knew he was not looking to be tied down to one person. She could wait. Not long, but she could wait.

Jack walked over to the helm and ran his hands over the wheel fondly. Suddenly he looked up, realizing everyone was looking at him. "On deck, you scabrous dogs! Man the braces! Let down the haul and run free! Now… bring me that horizon." He began to hum, as he sailed towards the sunset. Producing his compass from his pocket, he let his mind rest on what he wanted most in the world, "and really bad eggs….. drink up me 'earties, yo ho."

 **So what did you all think? The story isn't over yet. I still have about two or three filler chapters before I move on to DMC. I think I'm just going to change the name of the story to "Pirates of the Caribbean," and just keep adding all the chapters to this one story.**

 **As for what happens to Charlotte between now and DMC…. You'll find out. For those of you waiting for the pair to get together…. It happens soon. That's all I'm going to say. Look for a new update in the next day or so. And as always, leave a review and let me know what you want to see in the filler chapters.**


	20. Chapter 20

**This chapter has two parts: the first, smaller one focuses on Will and Elizabeth in Port Royal. The second is Jack and Charlotte on the Black Pearl. In the next chapter, it is going to be reversed. Jack and Charlotte's chapter is going to be small, and Will and Elizabeth's will be long.**

Will and Elizabeth sat together with the Governor, who was helping them plan the foundation of the wedding, which was to take place a few months from now. "Have you decided on a dress yet, my dear?" asked the Governor.

Elizabeth grinned, "Father! You cannot ask me about such things, especially in front of my fiancé. Will cannot hear the slightest information pertaining to my wedding dress, regardless if it is just a simple a question such as 'have you decided on one yet?'"

Will merely grinned as the Governor nodded to his daughter with a smile, "You and your superstitions," he murmured, pouring them all another round of tea. "I thought you were beyond all ghost stories."

Elizabeth frowned slightly, "After what happened a fair few weeks ago, I think I am right to have some skepticism when it comes to the existence of the unnatural."

"Too right you do," said Will as he took a small sip of tea.

The Governor merely looked in Will's direction, clearly not pleased with his daughter's choice in marriage. While the Governor had no objections to the wedding, it did not mean he had to like it. He was giving away his only daughter to a man who was, as of two weeks ago, a commoner.

Suddenly Elizabeth piped up, "We have not thought of a guest list yet," she said, covering her mouth with her hand. "What use is there in planning a wedding, if we have not yet sent out any invitations. People may have other engagements."

"I think people will find time to come to the wedding, Elizabeth. It's going to be a major event. All those of high standing will know the date is still pending," the Governor replied.

"It is a pity Charlotte is not here. She would have been a great help. Not to mention a great source of comfort for you Elizabeth," said Will, as Elizabeth grabbed a piece of parchment and a pen.

She sighed in response, "I was hoping that she would have chosen to stay. But the Commodore would not have let her rest peacefully in Port Royal. He would have dogged her every step. But it would have been nice to have another person here. She would have been an excellent maid of honour."

"She would have solved every problem that we will undoubtedly have in seconds," Will said with a smile. "She was the one who disabled the Commodore's ship when we left the bay."

The Governor looked up in surprise, "was she?" Will nodded in response, and asked the Governor why he sounded so surprised. "She was always a strange child, but she was quite resourceful when the moment called for it."

"I remember her stitching up my dress with cornhairs one time, it was quite funny," Elizabeth remembered as she looked out of the window and to the bay. "I wonder where she is right now."

"And here we are, the Isla de Muerta" Jack said in a bored tone as they reached the cursed island once more. The crew cheered, before Gibbs noticed the weary looks on both Charlotte and Jack's faces.

"Captain, you look awfully sullen at the prospect of returning to the Isla de Muerta," Gibbs said, as he approached Jack, who exchanged a look with Charlotte.

"We've been here three hundred times, the novelty's sort of worn off," Charlotte said suddenly, as she followed Cotton towards the longboats.

"But what about the treasure?" Gibbs asked, as he turned to look at the shadow of the island over his shoulder. "Surely that ought to peak your interest, aye?"

Jack rolled his eyes as he headed down from the helm. "There's only so much treasure one can have in the world Master Gibbs. And this-" he waved towards the island, "is not the pinnacle of a valuable chests in the sea."

"So you have you eye on something else now?" Gibbs stated, giving Jack a smile. "You've always been quite ambitious Captain."

"Surprised?" Jack asked as he headed to the longboats as well. His hand dug deep in his pockets and fished out a single Aztec coin. He turned to Charlotte who was sitting across from him, her hands busying themselves with the ropes. "Are you sure you want to put these back?" he asked, tossing his coin into the air.

Charlotte quickly caught it before Jack, smirking. "We have to. There is not way that I am sailing under the command of an undying Captain. That's just unnatural." She paused, passing Jack his coin. "Not to mention I hate always being parched," she added as an afterthought.

"But that is a small price to pay for immortality," Jack muttered, hoping she didn't hear him. They'd discussed in private whether they ought to put the coins back, and Jack found himself quite reluctant to give up the gold. Charlotte, on the other hand, was quite stubborn and had decided that she did not want to live under the same curse that had plagued Barbossa for near of a decade.

"No woman would want to touch you Jack, think about how boring your life would be." Charlotte countered, as the boat was lowered into the sea below. "And there's no way you could live your life without the taste of rum. It's only been five days and you are already quite shaken." This much was true. She and Jack could no longer taste food, feel warmth, or die. While Charlotte was quite new to the experience of drinking rum constantly, that was all Jack ever did before. And the inability to enjoy his favourite meal (yes, Rum was considered by Jack to be a meal), had begun to take a toll on Jack, who found himself becoming more and more reasonable as a result of a clear mind.

Jack raised a hand in defeat as they sailed into the small caves, "fine. I will put it back."

"You better because I'll know if you haven't," she said, as she fished out her own coin.

Gibbs looked between the pair, "Aye, the curse will only strengthen its hold on ye both. It's best to leave cursed treasure alone."

Charlotte turned to Gibbs, raising an eyebrow, "yet you are well-prepared to pilfer the remaining contents of that island, am I right?"

Gibbs looked away sheepishly, "But the rest of the treasure is not cursed, it it now Miss Vaughan?"

Charlotte nodded, "fair enough," she said as they docked the boats inside of the cave. "But if you are going to be taking anything back to the ship, be quick about it. Norrington is still following us."

The other pirates groaned in agreement. The Commodore, surprisingly, had not sailed out to engage the Black Pearl for almost 24 hours after their departure from Port Royal. However, the Dauntless was still quite quick and none of the pirates were trying to risk getting caught, especially Jack.

They entered the large cave and Charlotte wandered around, sifting through the various piles of gold, silver, and precious jewels that dotted the cavern. She came across a rather beautiful bracelet, which she placed around her arm, before discovering an even more enchanting ring, encrusted with rubies. She picked it up and began to examine it before a hand reached out of nowhere and said, "thank you love."

Charlotte quickly turned around to see Jack sliding the ring onto his finger, before examining the effect on his outstretched hand. "Ah, how fancy," he said, before turning his hand towards her, "goes well with the others, don't you think?"

She rolled her eyes, and grabbed Jack's arm, dragging him up to the centre of the room, towards the large pile of treasure atop which sat the chest of Aztec gold. "Come on, we'd better put these back before-" she looked at the chest and noticed that it sat slightly open. "I could have sworn I shut it when I took the coin," she murmured.

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, "I may have left it open," he said, looking at Charlotte.

"Alright then," she said as she withdrew her coin and a small dagger. "Let's just get this over with." She quickly sliced her hand open and let the blood cover the coin, before dropping it into the chest. She turned to Jack, and held out the blade, "you are not keeping the coin. It would not be right."

Jack glared at her before sighing and taking the blade. He opened up the half-healed cut he'd made whilst fighting Barbossa and rubbed some of the blood on the coin, before dropping it in also. He cleaned the dagger on his pant-leg before holding it out for Charlotte to grab. The woman, however, was scanning the cavern, a small crease between her eyebrows and a troubled look on her face. "What's wrong now, oh moral guide?" he said in a deep voice, as he shocked her out of her thoughts.

She turned to him and took the dagger, strapping it once more at her side. "Nothing… its just….. nothing," she muttered pulling out two small bottles of uncorked butter beer and passing one of them to Jack, "let's see if it worked." The pair clinked glasses and began to drink. At once, Charlotte felt the cool liquid in her mouth, quenching the days of thirst she'd had. While she and Jack had eaten in the cell when they were about to be hanged, they had only eaten to appease the others, as both Groves and Will would have found it quite strange if they were not hungry.

Jack continued to watch her as he picked up various objects from around the caves. He was quite annoyed that Commodore Norrington had confiscated the several things he'd decided to take upon his victory over Barbossa. He lamented at the loss of his strange gold statue of a half naked, cross-legged man for a moment, before his eyes landed on something much nicer. Lying on a silken cushion atop a small pile of trinkets were a pair of black pearl earrings, that matched the necklace he'd given Charlotte the last time they were here. Quietly, he snatched the small box up and shoved it deep in his pockets, keeping a watch out on the other crewmembers of the Pearl. He grabbed a few more things, before deciding that they'd spent long enough on the island. "Back to the ship, before the bloody Commodore is upon us," he said loudly, causing the crewmembers to quickly grab whatever else they wanted and head back to the longboats.

He turned around and watched as Charlotte gave the room another once over, before nodding to him and heading out with the rest of the crew. Jack did the same, and that was when a thought struck him, "something is off about this room, but I do not know what it is." He shrugged and headed out to the longboats, not wanting to spend another second in the room that had once made his life a living hell.

They rowed in silence as they headed back to the ship, which was all but hidden if not for the single lantern that Jack had left on. The boats were raised out of the water, and the crew boarded their ship once more, before heading out to open sea, Jack hoping that Norrington's crew would head to the Isla, before they realized the Pearl had left. The crew quickly began to make sail and headed out towards the next stop: India.

They sailed for a few days during which Charlotte was kept quite busy for most of them. She and Anamaria had become fast friends during their time on the Pearl, and were rarely ever seen apart. Jack hadn't found the right time ton give the woman the earrings, and was not about to give them to her in front of the crew, who already suspected something was brewing between the pair.

In the night, when the entire crew had gone to sleep, Jack lent back against the railing of the ship, by the wheel. He clutched a bottle of rum tightly in his hand and looked over the still sea.

"I'm surprised we have all of this time to relax. Or do you want Norrington to catch up with us?" a voice said from behind him. He smiled as Charlotte came from behind and stood next to him, her hands resting on the rails of the ship.

"I've always wondered whether the dear Commodore would be able to catch the Pearl, or whether we'd outrun him as we have done for the past few weeks," Jack replied, offering her the rum.

She took it from him gratefully and had soon downed the rest of the bottle. "What is India like Jack?" she asked him out of the blue, resting her back against the railing and handing him the empty bottle. While Jack had gone to a number of places, she'd never visited another country before.

Jack grinned as he turned to her, "Like Tortuga, but with more class, nicer food, fancier clothing, and the best rum you will ever taste." He placed both hands around Charlotte pinning her to the railing, as he often liked to do. "Why do you ask?"

She turned away slightly, "I was thinking about Elizabeth and how she always wanted to go. She'd heard tell of the different types of animals that roamed the lands there, like elephants."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "they have tigers and lions, yet you are excited to see… an elephant?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Jack, I am pretty sure that there are hundreds of other animals besides elephants, but I know nothing of those creatures."

Grinning, Jack moved slightly closer to her, "Well, you're going to learn a host of things now that you are a pirate."

"Like what?" she asked, "the secret to that compass of yours?" She reached for the compass, which hung loosely around Jack's belt. He didn't stop her, but rather undid the loop and handed it to her freely, standing in front of her to watch. She opened it and let the needle spin rapidly, pointing directly in front of her, and then directly behind her. It continued to do so for the next minute until she shook her head, "I don't understand. What is it pointing to?"

Jack smiled as he took the compass from her and held it low enough so that she could see it as well. The needle quickly span in a few circles before pointing towards Charlotte. Jack gave it a little shake, but the arrow remained where it was. "Broken," he muttered closing the compass and shaking it once more.

"Broken?" Charlotte repeated, not believing a single word coming out of Jack's mouth. "I hardly think you would think it worth keeping if it were broken."

Jack paused for a moment, thinking long and hard about whether or not to tell her. Luckily enough, the perfect excuse arrived for Jack. He looked over Charlotte's shoulder and said, "speaking of broken, how do you think Norrington is feeling about his 'engagement'?"

Charlotte shrugged, "How the hell should I know? I can hardly go up to him and ask?"

Jack grinned, and looked back down at her, "You might just get the chance sooner than you think." Charlotte opened her mouth, and Jack quickly spun her around, so she could what he saw.

In the distance, just visible against the black sky was a ship. Heading directly towards them.

"ALL HANDS!" cried Jack, ringing the bell and waking the crew up. "OUR DEAR FRIEND NORRINGTON IS NEARLY UPON US!"

Charlotte rolled her eyes at Jack's theatrics and began to help Gibbs with the ringing. Suddenly, a strike of lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Rain began to fall, hard, pummeling the crew.

"We're not going anywhere in this weather," said Anamaria.

"The wind will help propel us, we can outrun Norrington with it," Charlotte said, reminding them of the storm they'd fought through to catch up to the Pearl. She looked up at Jack, who was steering at the helm and ran towards him, "This isn't going to be like last time, is it?" she asked.

Jack looked up at the sky, the rain hitting his face as he squinted. "No, it's not going to be the same as last time." Charlotte let an expression of relief cross her face, before Jack spoke once more. "This, love, is a hurricane."

Charlotte grimaced, "I don't suppose you're compass could have warned us against this, huh?" Jack rolled his eyes, and Charlotte turned around to help the rest of the crew. This was going to be the beginning of a very long night.


	21. Chapter 21

"Will!" shouted Elizabeth from the top of the stairwell. She was half in tears and half in a state of panic. There wasn't much time left until the wedding, only two more weeks remained. While her father and Will seemed perfectly calm when it came to discussing the event, she'd become what Charlotte would have definitely called a "worry-wart."

"Yes, Elizabeth?" Will replied, running up the stairs and to her side immediately, as though he was doing nothing before, but waiting for her beck and call.

She pulled out a piece of paper with the cake design on it, "I need you to give this to the baker's wife. She's making the cake."

Will nodded and took the paper, before he could head back ot he turned to her, "Is there anything else?" he asked, plastering a smile on his face. He was hoping Elizabeth couldn't tell that he was quite annoyed. She had a habit of sending him out constantly with tasks.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, "No, I am quite certain that is the last task I have for you Will." She gave him a little wave before heading back into the tearoom, where she was surrounded by her other "friends" (women of the higher class), who were all discussing the upcoming wedding with excitement.

Elizabeth entered the room and took her seat just as one of the other women named Eileen spoke, "It is strange that you decided to forgo the engagement with Commodore James Norrington for William Turner."

Elizabeth turned to the woman, glaring. "It is strange. But there is logic to my decision. I did not love the Commodore, and I would have not been happy with him. Unlike you, I think of more than just myself."

The other women, who were looking at Elizabeth with wide eyes quickly looked back down at their teacups, while Eileen had a hand to her forehead, scandalized. "I think of others just as much as I think of myself."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and leaned in towards the woman, "Therein lays your problem." She turned to the other ladies, "Tea's over ladies, sorry." She got up and shooed the ladies out of the house, a fake smile on her face as the butler held the door open.

Just before he could close it, her father entered. "Elizabeth it's only 2:15 in the afternoon!" he said. "Surely you cannot be done with tea by now."

"I am done with petty women who have not anything better to criticize the decisions of one individual they barely know," she retorted, turning on her heel and storming into her room.

Her father stopped halfway up the stairs to her room, and decided better of it. He knew that she would most likely prefer to be left alone for a while, and talk to Will.

Elizabeth sat in her room, flicking through a small journal Charlotte had given to her a few years prior. According to the will they had found on Charlotte's property, all of her personal belongings went to Elizabeth, but the house and furniture went to Will. Elizabeth had chosen to leave the majority of things in the house, as that was where she would be moving into once she and Will were married.

It had been quite difficult to get the lawyers to allow Charlotte's will to be followed, for the woman had not died, but had ran away. Not to mention, that millions of kilometres away, Cutler Beckett was attempting to get ahold of the property along with the finances attached to it. However, his lack of proof that he was even on good terms with Charlotte, and the fact that Charlotte's name was on all of the paperwork for the assets of the Beckett family meant that he could not have any claim whatsoever.

"I wish you were here Charlotte. You would know exactly what to say to the people of this town. And you'd be a right sight better than the faces I am going to have to see at the wedding," she muttered, closing her eyes and falling back on her bed.

A few hours later, she found herself sitting between her father and Will, both of whom were well aware of what had been said at tea today. Will said quietly, his eyes glued to his plate as he moved a stray piece of broccoli around the rim of his plate.

The Governor had busied himself with drinking water during the silence. And seeing as they'd been sitting in silence for over a half an hour, he was quickly draining the jug of water that sat in the middle of the table quite quickly.

Elizabeth coughed slightly, "Did the caterers say anything about the meal plan?" she asked Will.

"Er- no, they're going to send you the different options to taste tomorrow," he said quickly as he shoveled the broccoli into his mouth, before she could say anything about how the caterers were supposed to send those files three days ago.

"Did you hear anything from Norrington, about the chase?" Elizabeth asked, noting Will's quick tone.

The Governor merely smiled, "nothing yet. In fact, we haven't heard from the Commdore in about a month. I do hope nothing bad has happened to him."

"Well, if he's chasing Jack, I would not waste my prayers," Will said under his breath, earning a glare from the Governor.

Elizabeth quickly spoke, "I hope Charlotte's doing fine. She would have had no problem hindering the Commodore's attempts to catch the Black Pearl." She paused before saying, "Do you think she and Jack are-"

"Elizabeth, is that really something to discuss. You were just saying today that you had an issue with those who stuck their noses where they are not wanted," her father said quietly as he took yet another sip of water.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and continued to eat in silence. Until her father left, that is, then she turned to Will. "You seem awfully annoyed today? What's wrong?"

Will sighed before placing his fork down, and looking up at her, as though he were choosing his words carefully. "You have been somewhat-stressed since we started planning the wedding. Don't you think you ought to take a small break, and-"

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open, "Take a break! Will, the wedding is in two weeks-"

"I know when the wedding is, it's my wedding also," Will replied, his voice strained. He placed a hand over Elizabeth's, "But there isn't that much left to do."

Her eyes widened and Will realized that he may as well begin picking flowers out for his casket.

"Jack! This is madness!" Charlotte yelled as she steered the ship around, while Jack gave her directions from his 'broken' compass. "We can't see anything, and we ought to drop canvas. The ship can't take this strain!"

Jack turned to her with a serious look, "My ship, my orders love! It can hold. We drop canvas when I say we need to." Charlotte rolled her eys as she tightened her grip around the wheel. "Oh and go left," Jack added.

A strike of lightning crossed the sky and the deck of the ship was thrown in a second of sharp relief. The crew was scattered, and were flying around the ship, attempting to follow the captains orders over the wind.

Jack looked behind them, "I can't see them," he stated.

"You can't see anything in this weather," Gibbs yelled, as he secured one of the ropes, and pulled the rigging tighter. The ship gave a loud groan and a sudden lurch, causing the crew to fall slightly. Charlotte slipped and fell towards the floor, but found herself in Jack's arms. The pair quickly rightened themselves, and Jack caught he wheel, which was spinning rapidly to the right.

Charlotte ran and grabbed a length of rope, tying one end around the handle of the ships wheel and the other to the ship's railing. The ship gave another lurch and a loud crunch was heard. Jack quickly looked up, peering through the rain. "We should drop canvas!" The crew began following his orders, and Charlotte- as she walked past him, gave him a look that read "I told you so" before heading out to help the others. "No one likes a know-it-all," Jack muttered under his breath as she passed, causing Charlotte turn and give him a smirk.

Gibbs groaned, "We've been fighting through this madness for almost two days straight, surely the Captain will give us a break by now?" The others looked up at Charlotte, who was the only one that Jack listened to.

She shrugged, "I'll try," she muttered, glancing behind her at Jack, who was steering the ship rapidly from side to side.

They quickly dropped canvas, and felt the ship catch the wind slightly before slowing down. As though it were meant to be, the rain began to slow down and the winds were also becoming quite tame. "Well, how about that," muttered Jack with a smile. "Drinks all around!" he yelled, causing the pirates to give an almighty cheer.

The pirates were all drunk out of their minds, and were clearly incapable of following the captain's orders, which resulted in them all being sent to go sleep of the effects of their overindulgence. The waters had calmed, and the deck was quite peaceful, occupied only by Charlotte and Jack, who were still drinking.

"This wasn't your first hurricane, I imagine," Charlotte said, looking at Jack, as they sat down.

"I was born on a ship during a typhoon love, seems fitting that I know how to manage a hurricane," Jack replied.

"Makes sense," she whispered. "Where do you think we are?"

Jack pulled a map from off the table and looked at it for a moment, "We are just off of the coast of ….. this little plot of land right here," he said, handing the map to her, and pointing at a mass the size of a breadcrumb.

"Well then, we'll be able to resupply there," she said, taking a sip of rum.

Jack grinned, "You seem to be comfortable giving orders on my ship, love." He liked the fact that she was able to call things before he was. It meant she was well on her way to being a good first mate. Jack wanted to make her a co-captain, but he still needed time to be one with his beloved Pearl.

"Well, this is home now, so I might as well treat it like a home," she said with a smile. A breeze of cold air swept through the top decks, and the fact that the pair were still wearing soaking wet clothing did nothing to block the wind.

"We should go into the quarters," said Jack, who threw and arm around her, pulling her towards him.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "A bit of wind never killed anyone," she said with a smirk, continuing to drink.

Jack grinned, "I beg to differ love. You will catch a cold, I learnt that the hard way."

Charlotte shook her head, "I'll be fine Jack, you worry way to –"she sneezed loudly, before looking up at Jack who merely whistled and looked up at the sky, muttering something that sounded "I told you so."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "No one likes a know-it-all," she said under her breath as Jack helped her up. They headed down into the ship, and past the hammocks, where the other crewmates were sleeping heavily. "Where are we going?" she asked, as Jack took her further down the ship.

He stopped at a pair of double doors before turning to smile, "If you really do catch a cold, do you think I want you making the rest of my crewmembers ill? What if Norrington catches up?" he said with a smile, before opening the door.

Charlotte half expected Jack to have dragged her down to the holding cells to sleep, but was surprised to find herself in the captain's quarters. She looked at the back of Jack's head before heading over to the bed and taking off her shoes before slipping under the covers. But she quickly found herself being shooed out of the bed and back into cold air. She rubbed her arms and rolled her eyes, "what is it _now_ , Jack?" she asked, turning to him.

Jack grinned, "There's no way in hell, that I am letting you make the sheets wet."

Charlotte was bemused, "Since when did you care if the sheets were wet?"

"Since right now!" Jack said, in an unconvincing tone. "I'm captain. My ship, my rules."

"My boot, your ass," Charlotte replied, folding her arms and staring back at him.

The pair never broke eye contact till Charlotte conceded. "Fine, what do I wear," she said, uncrossing her arms, and heading over to the chest of drawers along the left side of the wall.

Jack shrugged, "whatever you find," he said, not expecting her to locate anything.

Charlotte dug around in silence before finally withdrawing a white nightgown from the depths of the drawers. Jack gave in inward sigh, before turning around and allowing her to change.

A few moments later, he too found himself being forced to change into a new shirt and bleechers before clambering beside her. "Now what?" He asked, as the ship rocket through the calm waters.

Charlotte faced him, a mischevious grin on her lip. "Well," she said, moving closer to him, "everyone is asleep. There are no interruptions by enraged naval members to distract us…" She quickly straddled his legs, her face morphing to one of business, "you can tell me all about that broken compass."

Jack merely grinned before sitting up and reaching for the compass on the hook next to the bed. He tossed it to her and said, "Open it."

She followed his instructions and the pair watched as the needle swung around, before pointing to Jack. "It's pointing behind you," she sighed before giving it to him. "Perhaps it is broken."

Jack rolled his eyes, "my compass is unique, alright? It is not broken." He held it open and they watched once more as the needle swung round the dial before landing on Charlotte.

"It's pointing behind me," she said, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the cabin behind her.

Jack smirked before saying, "Love, you've played your cards right. You helped me get the Pearl back- not with ease I might add. You deserve to know what the compass does." He gently used a finger and guided her chin until she was looking at him once more. He moved closer to her until his mouth was to her ear. "Now, what I am about to tell you is a secret. You cannot tell anyone or I will kill you." He knew she was probably rolling her eyes, "Do you agree to my terms?" he asked.

"I agree, Captain," she whispered, "Now spit it out."

Jack grinned before looking her in the eyes, "The compass points to the thing you want most in the world. That 'thing' could be an object, a place, or even a person."

Charlotte's eyes widened slightly, "so when it pointed to me…." She trailed off and Jack gave a slight nod of his head. "And when it pointed to you…" she covered her mouth, as her eyes threatened to pop out of her skull.

Jack, not knowing whether his actions would be unwarranted quickly moved her hands away from Charlotte's mouth and kissed her. His hands found their way to her waist and he gently pulled at the soft fabric of the gown. A few seconds went by and Jack began to worry as Charlotte stiffened slightly. _"She's not mad at me, is she? I mean the compass did point to me. Perhaps she doesn't know if this is what she wants? Why isn't she doing anything yet?"_

Charlotte was in shock. She had been waiting for Jack to say something, but not for him to take action. Suddenly he pulled away from her, and she found him looking back at her expectantly. He scratched his head, "I um, what I meant to…. This isn't… don't get mad… you look mad," he stammered finally, looking at her nervously.

Charlotte did nothing for a few moments, except for sitting there and looking at Jack blankly. She was unable to form thoughts until _"I don't want him to stop_." Abruptly, Charlotte pulled Jack towards her and began to kiss him back. "I was…. Don't stop," she said against his lips.

That was all the encouragement Jack needed.


	22. Chapter 22

**Sorry I haven't updated this story in a while, I've been kinda busy what with my classes starting and everything (Engineering is a bitch). I also watched the Fast and the Furious films in order for the first time (I've seen the first three, but never really payed too much attention to the plot line, it was mostly just on for background noise). Naturally as a writer, I got invested in the characters, and was in tears at the end of the seventh one.**

It had been over two weeks since Charlotte and Jack had decided to take their relationship to the physical level.

Actually, there was no relationship. Once the pair had sorted out the 'wants' as directed by the compass-which didn't have much to do with emotions- they found that they were content with keeping things at _that_ level only.

Anamaria and she stood out on the balcony of a small inn, overlooking the shore. Below them, hundreds of people milled around, going about their usual business. The smell of freshly fried gulaab jaamans wafted up into the thick Indian air. They reached the country a few days ago, and whilst there, Charlotte had fallen in love with the art of tattoos. She'd found the experience quite enjoyable. She and Anamaria had picked out several matching tattoos, all of which pertained to their time together on the Black Pearl thus far. Charlotte's arms were covered with various drawings of ships, birds, swords, even a few runes that she had learned about. Hidden in between the ink of a sword and a phoenix were two sets of initials, W.T. and E.S. Anamaria had approved of Charlotte's small nod to two of her closest friends.

"Do you ever think about getting your own ship?" she asked, as they headed back into their room.

Anamaria snorted, "Don't be silly. There's an unlikely chance that we'll ever be allowed to captain our own ship. Men would find it hard to trust us, or our orders."

Charlotte rolled her eyes as she collapsed onto her bed, the sari she was wearing fluttered beside her. "Yes, but we're not trying to join the high ranks of the class system, are we? Pirates do whatever the hell they want, don't they?"

Anamaria gave a slight nod, "That's true. But we're not going to have to get a ship right now. I mean, we could just go on land for a bit. Lord knows that I would prefer to stay on land for a while, especially after that hurricane."

"Amen to that," muttered Charlotte, as she got up. "I'm going-"

"-to go see where Jack is," Anamaria said, finishing up her sentence with a raised eyebrow. She chose her next few words carefully, knowing that the topic she was going to mention wasn't one of Charlotte's favourites. "Are you and Sparrow going talk about where you are?"

Charlotte bit her lip, running a hand through her raven coloured hair. "I don't really know to be perfectly honest. I mean, I want to go around the world and explore everything there is to offer. And I want to do it when I'm young, not ten or twenty years from now. Besides, I don't think that Jack is likely to take a wife, or even a partner for that matter. We both want different things."

"But you both want each other" Anamaria countered, as she opened the door for Charlotte. "…. And the sea" she added as an afterthought.

"Two things versus a thousand," Charlotte replied with a grin as she left.

Anamaria gave a short laugh as she shut the door, "A thousand excuses."

It didn't take long to find Jack. Charlotte just headed to the nearest tavern, and lo and behold, Jack and some of the other men of the crew were sitting around a very large table, drinking heavily.

Gibbs spotted her first and immediately moved aside, giving her a seat between himself and Jack, who was pouring another round for himself. He spotted Charlotte and produced another mug from nowhere. "Care for a drink, love?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. He knew that once he and Charlotte were both drunk, the likelihood of them waking up next to one another later on increased.

She shook her head, "Yes please." Despite having just drunk two- or was it three?- bottles in Anamaria's room, there was something different about the drinks in India. They had a secret ingredient that made them completely irresistible. Once she'd had one, she had to keep going until she felt fit to burst, or extremely nauseous- whichever came first.

The hours drew by and she found herself in Jack's arms, as expected. Together they made their way up to her room, where Charlotte soon found herself pinned between the wall and Jack. She could feel him gently tugging at the fabric of her saree. "Jack," she whispered, her eyes half-closed as he traced her jawline with kisses. "Jack can we talk for a moment?" she said quickly.

He stopped and moved away so he could look at her face. The kohl had smudged around his eyes and the kurta pajama he was wearing looked slightly ruffled. "Nothing good has ever come out of a woman's mouth after those words," he muttered, as she gently guided him to the bed. He sat down heavily, and pulled her onto his lap. "Go on then love, break my heart," Jack said with a toothy grin. "I can take it."

"I never said you could not," she replied with a small kiss on his forehead. She took a deep breath before relaying the general contents of her last conversation with Anamaria. "So, what I am attempting to say here is that-"

"-you're leaving me," Jack said, with a slightly bored tone. He'd tuned out after the first five minutes of what had become a forty-five minute lecture, and only began to listen properly about ten minutes ago.

Charlotte rolled her eyes at Jack's poorly worded conclusion. "No I'm not leaving you. I'm just going on a solo adventure…. With Anamaria."

"So it's not solo, it's just a women-only type trip, aye?" he replied with a grin. She nodded, and the smile slowly disappeared until it was barely there, "I could take you on an adventure, love. You don't have to leave."

Charlotte smiled, "I know you could, but you need time to be with the Pearl, and the sea. I don't want to get in the way of that-"

"You're not in the way," Jack said aggressively, as though she'd expressed a desire to chop off her own head. He ran an agitated hand through his hair. She couldn't leave, not after all they'd been through. His mind wandered to the earrings he'd been carrying around in his pocket for the past few months, as he tried to find the opportune moment. Perhaps this was it. Maybe the reason she wanted to leave was because he had not given her a reason to stay. It remained unspoken between the pair of them- Jack had made it clear after their first night that he was not looking for something permanent, and Charlotte had agreed.

She smiled politely, "I just think that it would be best if I saw the world now, you know, before I get all old, ugly, and frail."

Jack rolled his eyes, "You'll never be ugly. Not to me." He rolled over until he was hovering above her, and gently kissed her. "If you want to go, then go. I won't stop you." His heart felt as though it were being pulled out of his chest as he spoke, but he couldn't refuse. Not after seeing the way her eyes lit up as she spoke of her desire to see the world as he had already done. It had been the topic of their first conversation, and Jack was not about to forget it. Charlotte could be quite stubborn, and once she had an idea, she held onto it.

Charlotte nodded, "Thank you Jack," she said, giving him another kiss. "I'm leaving tomorrow night."

Jack smirked as he began to unravel the fabric of her saree. "Well, we'd better make tonight count."

Jack watched as her eyelashes fluttered, her chest rose and fell with each deep breath, and the cool morning breeze flew through her hair. Charlotte had fallen asleep ages ago, her head resting in the curve of his arm, and her hand resting over his chest, fingertips just covering the two bullet holes next to his heart. He watched her for a few more moments before deciding he ought to leave.

He took in every move she'd made that night, etching them into his memory in case they never crossed paths again. The world was huge- he knew that firsthand.

Eventually he got out of Charlotte's bed and got dressed. He'd convinced himself that he was doing this to make it easier for Charlotte to leave. If she saw him, she'd want to stay. But deep down he knew he was lying to himself- if he kept looking at her, he wouldn't want her to leave.

He gently covered Charlotte with the blanket and turned to leave, burying his hands in his pocket. His hand hit something hard, and Jack-confused- quickly withdrew the small velvet box with the pearl earrings. He scratched his goatee, and gave Charlotte a half-glance. Her chest rose and fell slowly, and he knew she was deep asleep. _Perhaps now is the best time…._ He paused before deciding.

He gently opened the small lid, and came close the bed, sitting down next to her head. Gently, he moved her hair off of her ears and swiftly placed the earrings in her ears. Satisfied with the way they looked on her, he quickly got up and headed to the door, tucking the empty box away.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" said a voice from behind him. His closed his eyes and preparation to be bombarded by a slew of curses from Charlotte, who had quite the sailor's mouth. "Jack?" she asked, her voice soft and full of tiredness. He turned around and saw her standing behind him, a silk robe wrapped around her.

"I'm just getting some fresh air," he said, stretching and heading round to the doors that led out to the balcony. He opened the door, and the pair stood outside, the cold summer air washed over them. The street below was deserted except for a small grey-black dog with matted fur barking solemnly. The pair stood in silence, not daring to break the ice, until Charlotte took the plunge. She turned to Jack, and gently raised her hand, resting it on the side of his face.

She made him look at her eyes, "There's a reason you're leaving in the middle of the night. Either you don't know how to say goodbye to me or… you don't want to."

Jack merely smirked as he looked down at her, "Nobody likes a know-it-all, love" he said.

She gave him a quick kiss, "Go Jack."

He smiled gratefully, before hopping over the balcony railing and landing in the street below, before bolting down to the docks, where the Black Pearl was docked. He turned back and gave her a wink, before she disappeared from his sight completely.

Charlotte watched as he disappeared down the curve of the street, a smile lingering on her mouth as a tear rolled down her face. She quickly shook her head and wiped it away. "I'll see him again," she said quietly "I know I will."


	23. Chapter 23

**And here begins Dead Man's Chest. For those of you wondering, you will find out where Charlotte is in either the second or third chapter.**

 **This is a short chapter, but i decided to split the scenes.**

Elizabeth had been waiting for this day her entire life. The day her father would give her away to a man who loved her more than anything on this Earth. She had arrived early with her maids to make sure everything was prepared for the wedding, but she hadn't paid any attention to the stormy grey clouds that had swept in from the East, blocking the rays of sunlight that were supposed to bathe the wedding in gold. She'd gotten dressed, and waited anxiously inside of the fort, waiting for guests to arrive- but most importantly, waiting for William Turner, her soon-to-be-husband.

She stared out of the window, waiting and waiting. Chairs were left empty, as a result of the change in government. Her family had gone from being one of the most respected, to one that was nearing the lower rungs of the social ladder. This was, in part, due to her involvement with the antics of pirates, and because of the change in order from the King of England. No longer was royalty in charge of the social hierarchy, but rather, large companies like the EITC were becoming more and more powerful by the day.

She'd eventually given up and gone to sit by the alter, where the priest from the church was supposed to be. He too, had decided not to show up. The food was getting cold. Basically everything that could go wrong, was going wrong. Slowly, the clouds crept up behind her and shrouded the small garden in shadow and with a loud rumble the rain began to pour. Elizabeth waited and waited, the bouquet growing wetter and wetter, the cold chilling her skin. She waited attentively, until finally she heard a noise from behind her.

Immediately, she turned around and spotted a group of the Navy's men coming along the colonnade. She dropped the bouquet and ran towards them, her breath caught in her throat as she spotted the face of the man in chains; "Will!"

She quickly threw his arms around him, before playing with the collar of his blazer. "Why is this happening?" she whispered, looking at him sadly.

He gave her a small smile, "I don't know. You look beautiful" he said, attempting to diffuse the situation.

Elizabeth sniffed, her nose running because of the cold. "I think it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding," she said with a small smile.

From behind the large group of marines emerged Elizabeth's father. The marines quickly crossed their axes to prevent him from reaching Will and Elizabeth. He gave the two men a dirty look before eyeing the third and fourth men who stood a little ways from Elizabeth.

The shorter man shrugged off his cloak and passed it to another marine, before turning to the others. "Governor Weatherby Swann, it's been too long," drawled the man.

Elizabeth and Will eyed the man with small interest. He wore a white wig set in elaborate curls, with a hat placed jauntily atop it. His clothing was expertly tailored and fit him perfectly. His eyes were cold and steely grey and they could see the small strands of brown hair sticking from underneath the wig.

Elizabeth turned to her father, who was merely gaping at the short man in front of them. "...Cutler Beckett?" he said with astonishment.

Will and Elizabeth's eyes widened as they exchanged concerned and interested looks. So this was Charlotte's brother. They were both thinking the same thing; they look nothing alike. Except for the fact that Charlotte's eyes held small flecks of grey and her hair had a mixture of brown in it. Other than that, they looked nothing alike. Charlotte was curvaceous, tall, and tanned, while Beckett was short, stubby, and pale.

"It's 'Lord' now… actually" said Beckett with an air of superiority.

Governor Swann managed to conceal his shock. "Lord or not, you have no reason and no authority to arrest this man."

Beckett rolled his eyes, "in fact, I do. Mister Mercer?" he said, nodding to the middle aged man with weathered skin next to him.

The man stepped forward, and opened a large dispatch case. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at the man's appearance. He looked nothing like a clerk. Beckett reached in and rifled through the documents before producing several of them. He handed them to Governor Swann as he read their contents aloud. "Ah, here it is! The arrest warrant for one William Turner."

Elizabeth gasped, and Will did nothing more than wince. This day was getting worse and worse.

Governor Swann coughed loudly, "this warrant is for Elizabeth Swann," he said, looking from the document, to Beckett, to his daughter who looked outraged.

Beckett took the document and peered down at it, "Is it? How odd… my mistake." He didn't bother to hide his glee as he spoke once more, "Arrest her." He turned back to the case and rifled around once more.

Immediately the marines swept down onto Elizabeth, grabbing her wrists and attempting to place shackles on them.

"On what charges?" she asked loudly, looking at the back of Beckett's head.

Beckett chose to ignore her as he produced two more documents, "Aha! Here's the one for William Turner… and I have another one for a James Norrington. Is he present?" he asked, holding the document above his head as he strolled about.

"What are the charges?" Elizabeth repeated.

"Commodore Norrington resigned his commission several months ago," said Governor Swann.

Beckett smirked, "that does not seem an answer to the question I asked."

"And we haven't seen him since!" said Swann forcefully.

Will rolled his eyes as he struggled against his chains, "Lord Beckett!" he shouted, gathering the attention of everyone. "In the category of questions not answered-" he nodded to Elizabeth to take it away.

"We are British subjects under jurisdiction of the King's Governor of Port Royal, and we demand to know what we are charged with," she spoke eloquently.

Beckett eyed her warily before speaking. "The charges is conspiring to secure the unlawful release of a convict, charged and tried for crimes against the Crown and Empire, and condemned to death. For which, regrettably, the punishment is also death." He paused as his words sunk in. "You do remember a certain pirate named Jack Sparrow?"

"Captain," said Will and Elizabeth simultaneously, before exchanging a glance.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth replied.

Beckett grinned, "Yes. I thought you might." He gave a quick jerk of the head and were taken away. Elizabeth glanced back at Beckett, "and what of Charlotte?"

"Stop!" said Beckett, causing the soldiers to halt in the middle of the hall. He strode up to face the pair, "What do you know of my sister?" he asked them, his voice constrained.

"Do you not know where she is?" Will asked smugly.

Beckett turned to him, "I have not seen here in years. I will attempt to make amends whilst here." He turned to the Governor, "you have her current address I presume?"

The Governor shook his head with a smile, "I am afraid that your sister Miss Charlotte Vaughan- as she calls herself now- will be found in the voluntary company of Captain Jack Sparrow."

Beckett went slack-jawed. He recovered quickly and nodded to the marines to take the two prisoners away. "I need a lie-down," he whispered, heading in the opposite direction.

Elizabeth looked to her father, who merely nodded; "I will get you out," he mouthed.


	24. Chapter 24

**OKAY! Here's the next chapter! Oh, and has anyone watched the new season of Orange is the New Black? Shit still makes me cry. If you have, lemme know because I need someone to talk to. No one I know watches it, and I need a support session.**

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles away, the Black Pearl sat still in the inky black ocean, buffeted slightly by the small waves. The lines creaked, the noise merging in with the water and wind. The vast majority of the crew were below decks- asleep, no doubt, after a round of heavy drinking waiting… waiting.

"Fifteen men on a dead man's chest, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum…" sang Gibbs, his low voice echoing across the deck. He paced back and forth, a bottle of rum clenched firmly in his hand. "Drink and devil had done for the rest… yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!" He took a swig of the amber liquid, and staggered a few feet before regaining his balance. Gibbs looked up to the black sky and took another drink. He peered through the darkness of the sails and spotted a few crows pecking at the topsail. As tough they'd sensed his stare, they took off immediately, heading to a large black mass in the far distance, illuminated only by the moonlight.

Guards escorted a prisoner across a stone bridge. His chains rattling across the grounds mixed with the wails of the tormented souls were music to their ears. A few feet away, a man sitting in a cage was pecked to death by a pack of crows, leaving nothing but bones and cloth. At the foot of the towers, by a large parapet guards murmured a prayer in Turkish, before dropping one of the several caskets beside them into the sea.

The caskets floated away, carried by the currents of the ocean, until the water became still. One of the crows from the prison landed atop a casket, and began to peck at the wood, as if it sensed it's next victim.

Peck.

Peck. Peck

Peck. Peck. Peck.

Peck. Peck. Peck. –

Suddenly, a gunshot fired from inside the casket flew through the lid, hitting the crow, which disappeared in a cloud of black feathers.

A hand wrapped around a gun reached through the hole in the lid, swinging around, poised to shoot. The hand returned in the hole, and soon, the person began to tear at the wood, until they were able to sit up comfortably. Captain Jack Sparrow sat up, wincing in the moonlight, stretching. He felt the top of his head, and a look of panic ran across his face, before he reached into the casket and pulled out a hat. He placed it askew on his head, before reaching once more into the casket. "Sorry mate," he said, before- SNAP- he pulls out a skeleton leg. "Mind if we take a little side trip?" he paused as though he were going to get an answer, "Didn't think so." Using the leg as a makeshift oar, he redirected the casket towards the Pearl in the distance.

His mind wandered off as he attempted to ignore the sliminess of the leg. His initial thoughts always focused on the same thing, _Charlotte._ The woman was always at the forefront of his mind. The last he'd heard, she was poised to take over for Mistress Ching, as the Pirate Lord of Pacific Sea. Many of the other pirates Jack had come across since her departure had mentioned coming across a young woman who fit her description, and from what Jack had heard, Charlotte had her own ship and had done her fair share of pirating.

He approached the hull of the ship, and could spot the rungs on his left. Eager to tell the rest of his crew about his newest plan, he clambered up the rungs, and saw Gibbs waiting to give him a hand. Instead, he thrust the skeletal leg into Gibbs' open hand, and pulled himself aboard.

Marty and Leech (one of the pirates who'd joined Jack's crew in India) waited wild eyed behind Gibbs, who held the leg gingerly. "Not quite according to plan," he said, tossing the leg over the rail.

Jack smirked, "Complications arose, ensued, were overcome." He nodded to Leech, who, threw Jack's coat over his shoulders.

Gibbs nodded, as though he expected this answer, "You got what you went in after, then?"

Jack reached into his sleeve, before pulling out a rolled up piece of cloth. He waved it around, a smile on his face, as he dodged the outstretched hands of those around him. Gibbs peered down at the cloth, before looking at those around him. The rest of the crew eyed Jack warily, as Leech swore in Hindi. "Captain, I think the crew- meaning me as well- were expecting something a bit more…. shiny."

Jack turned around and was immediately blocked by Leech, who folded his arms and looked at the Captain expectantly. The rest of the crew grouped around Jack, who felt slightly on edge.

"What with Isla de Muerta going all pear-shaped, reclaimed by the sea, and the treasure with it-" Gibbs began.

"And the Royal Navy chasing us all around the Atlantic-" Leech added, as they thought of the months they spent being pursued by Norrington. The man was determined, Jack had to give him that.

"And the hurricane!" yelled Marty. The short pirate wasn't about to forget that soon.

"All in all, it's been some time since we've done a spec of honest piratin'" Gibbs finished.

Jack waited for a moment, his eyes narrowed. "Shiny?" he repeated, looking at the crew, who nodded.

"Aye, shiny," said Gibbs with a nod.

Jack raised an eyebrow, "is that how you're all feeling? That I'm not serving your interests as Captian?" he replied threateningly. He wasn't about to get mutinied upon once more.

There was an awkward silence as his words hung in the air.

"Walk the plank!" said a shrill voice. The crew all turned to Cotton, who nodded at the parrot sitting on his shoulder.

Jack pulled out his pistol, aiming it at the Parrot. "What did the bird say?" he asked aggressively.

"Don't blame the bird. Just show us what's on that piece of cloth you got there," Leech said, pointing at the cloth clenched in Jack's hand.

Jack turned his attention back to the cloth, and smiled. _The men aren't going to know what hit them,_ he thought, reconsidering what Leech had said. He couldn't trust the man as far as he could throw him. He opened his mouth, when- all of a sudden- Barbossa's poisonous monkey swung out from the ringing, screeching loudly in his face. Jack screamed back at it, pretending it was Barbossa, and watched in horror as the infernal creature took ahold of the cloth, wrenching it from his hand. Instinctively, Jack took Leech's pistol (he wasn't about to waste his bullets) and fired a shot through the monkey, who dropped the cloth on the deck, before scarpering.

Gibbs rolled his eyes at Jack's behaviour "You know that doesn't do any good."

"Id does me," Jack replied, as he tossed Leech's pistol to its owner. He started towards the cloth, but Marty reached it first.

A look of confusion and then curiosity dawned across his face. His eyes widened as he turned to the rest of the crew, "It's a key!"

Jack rolled his eyes and headed towards Marty, 'Better." He took the cloth and displayed it to the men, "it is a drawing of a key." He waited for a few moments, as the crew attempted to understand the significance of the drawing. He was tempted to say, " _Charlotte would have figured it out by now"_ but decided against it. Rather, he chose to dumb things down for them, "Gentlemen, what do keys do?"

Leech, surprisingly, was the first to speak. "They… unlock things?" he asked hesitantly.

Gibbs nodded along with the rest of the crew, who'd begun to chatter. "And whatever this unlocks, inside there be something valuable. So we're setting out to find whatever this unlocks."

Jack inhaled deeply, " _God they were so stupid_." "No," he stated plainly, and watched as the looks of excitement were slashed from the faces of the crew. "If we don't have the key, we can't open whatever it unlocks, so what purpose would be served in finding whatever needs to be unlocked without first having found the key what unlocks it?"

Gibbs furrowed his brow, "So we're going to find this key?"

"You're not making any sense at all. Any more questions?" he asked, turning to the rest of the crew, as he left Gibbs to mutter to himself.

"Do we have a heading?" Marty asked.

Jack smiled, "Hah! A heading." He pulled out his compass, and flicked it open. Immediately, it pointed to the West, and hovered there for a few moments, before Jack gave it a little shake. The needle then began to swing around rapidly. He narrowed his eyes, "Set sail in a…mmmm… a general…." He pointed to the east, "That way direction."

Gibbs peered over Jack's shoulder, "Cap'n?"

Jack quickly snapped the compass shut, but not before it flicked to the west once more. "Come on, snap to and make sail, you know how this works." He waved his arms at the crew, who began to disperse to their usual stations, "come on, oy, quick" he headed down to his quarters for a moment of silence, hoping that they didn't notice the change in his behaviour.

Marty and Gibbs exchanged concerned looks as they stood by the railing."Have you noticed lately…. The captain seems to be actin' a bit strange…." he caught Gibbs' look and added, "-er?"

Gibbs nodded, "Aye. Setting sail without knowing his own headin? Somethin's got Jack vexed. Mark my words, what bodes ill for Jack Sparrow bodes ill for us all."


	25. Chapter 25

**So, I keep updating this story. Probably because its so easy to write… Oh, and did any of you catch the whole "compass pointing to the West" thing? Lemme know in the comments if you did.**

Later on that night, Jack found himself sitting alone in his quarters, the ship's gentle rocking motion causing him to get easily frustrated. This was completely unheard of, as the slow rocking of a ship usually made his feel quite at peace. He glanced down at the "P" branded on his wrist, before looking at the closed compass, which he held tightly in his hand. He gave it a slight shake before sneaking the lid open. The compass continued to point to the West before continuing to spin about. He shook the compass once more, eyes closed muttering, "I know what I want." A few seconds later, he opened one eye and spotted the dial, which continued to spin.

He dropped the divider and triangle protractor that he'd been using to chart a course. Reaching for the bottle of rum to alleviate the stress, he thought of Charlotte, and what her advice would have been in the moment.

 _"Just toss the stupid compass away, and take a guess as to where this key might be. Odds are you probably know. You just don't know you know."_

He lifted the bottle, and sighed as he turned it over, letting the last three drops of rum fall out. "Why is the rum always gone?" He stood up suddenly, and staggered, "right. That's why."

Carefully, he made his way to the door, and headed through the hold, where the sailors were currently sleeping, their snores reverberating through Jack's ears. "As you were gentlemen," he murmured, picking up a bundle of keys from a nail in the wall, and unlocking the rum locker.

He hung the keys on the nearest nail, and began pulling out the remaining rum bottles, each one empty. The ship tilted roughly to the right, and the lantern in Jack's hand swung wildly, illuminating a single bottle at the bottom of the rack. Jack grinned and bent down, before recoiling slightly at the barnacle-encrusted bottle. He tugged it out, and gave the bottle a small shake. Something was definitely off; he uncorked it with his mouth, and peered inside. Sighing, he turned it over, letting the sand spill out onto the floor. Just as he was about to give up, a voice spoke from the shadows.

"Time's run out Jack."

Jack dropped the bottle and turned slowly, letting the light of the lantern fall into the shadow. A figure stirred, and Jack crept closer. A man sat on a small barrel, the small part of his face that Jack could see was extremely pale and hair dripping. He turned, and Jack watched in horror as a small sea-creature crawled across the left side of his face. The right side is what stopped his breath. It was completely covered in barnacles and crustaceans, and a large starfish had taken hold of his cheek. Jack winced, and thought of the young man he'd become acquainted with on his quest to get the Pearl, "Bootstrap? Bill Turner?"

Bootstrap smiled, "Jack Sparrow. You look good."

He stepped out of the shadows slightly, allowing Jack to get a better look at him, and waiting for the man to exchange the compliment.

Jack opened his mouth, attempting to be polite, but he found himself unable to return the favour. Instead he asked, "Is this a dream?"

"No," replied Bootstrap, looking quite solemn, as though he'd rather be anywhere but on the Pearl.

Jack nodded," I thought not. If it were, there'd be rum."

Suddenly, Bootstrap raised an arm, his joints cracking as though they hadn't moved in years. His hand was wrapped around the neck of a bottle. Jack smiled, and tugged it lose, as Bootstrap's hand was also encrusted with barnacles. He gave it a sniff, before wiping the mouth of the bottle, and taking a long drink.

"You got the Pearl back, I see."

Jack took a long sip, "I had some help retrieving the Pearl." He paused deciding to leave Charlotte out of the mess, "Your son."

Bootstrap's eyes widened, "William?" he asked, taken aback. Jack nodded, and the old man sighed, "he ended up a pirate after all."

Jack scoffed, "Given a liberal definition of the word 'pirate.' He's got an unhealthy streak of honest about him."

Bootstrap smiled, "that's something, then. Though, no credit to me."

Jack decided to steer the conversation out of its current depressing tone, "and to what do I owe the pleasure of your carbuncle?"

Bootstrap gave Jack a knowing look, "Davy Jones. He sent me as an emissary."

Jack nodded. He'd kept track over the years, and was expecting a visit from the infamous pirate. "Ah, so its you, then. He shanghaied you in to service then."

Bootstrap shook his head, his eyes downcast, "I chose it." He paused, "I'm sorry for the part I played in mutiny'ng against you, Jack." Jack waved the apology off, "Everything went wrong after that," Bootstrap explained. "I ended up cursed,doomed to the depths of the ocean, the weight of the water crushing down on me. Unable to move… unable to die Jack." The young pirate could sense the despair in Bootstrap's hoarse voice. "All I could do was think. Even the tiniest hope of escaping this fate…. I would take it. Trade anything for it."

Jack nodded, "that is the kind of thinking bound to catch his attention," he replied knowingly.

"It did. Davy Jones came. Made the offer. I could spend one hundred years before the mast, with the hope that after, I would go on to a peaceful rest."

"Funny what a man'll do to forestall his final judgement," Jack whispered.

Bootstrap turned to him, "You made a deal with him, too, Jack. E raised the Pearl from the depths for you, and thirteen years you've been her captain."

Jack raised a finger, "technically-"

Bootstrap shook his head, "you wont be able to talk your way out of this." A small crab scuttled across the table, and Bootstrap quickly grabbed it, shoving the crustacean in his mouth. Jack cringed as he heard the shell crack between Bootstrap's teeth. "The terms what applied to me apply to you, as well. One soul, bound to crew a lifetime upon his ship."

Jack nodded, "The Flying Dutchman already has a captain, so there's no need for me."

Bootstrap sighed, before nodding. This was the answer he expected from Jack. "Then it's the Locker for you. Jones' leviathan will find you and drag the Pearl back to the depths… and you along with it."

"Any idea when Jones will release said terrible beastie?" Jack asked, trying not t oo sound too worried.

Bootstrap raised an arm and pointed to Jack's left hand. Jack took a step back, but it was too late. He felt a searing pain and looked down at his palm, where the dreaded Black Spot appeared. He stared at it. He was now a marked man.

"It's not a matter of how long 'till it comes after you- it's a matter of how long 'til you're found."

Jack looked up and Bootstrap was gone. He let out a yelp, and ran. "On deck!" he yelled to the sleeping crew as he passed through the hold. "All hands! Lift the skin up. Scurry! Movement. I want movement."

As the groggy pirates dragged themselves to their stations, Jack looked into the Pearl's back sails. "Haul those sheets!" he ordered the men. "haul 'em! Run, mates, run, as if the devil himself is on us."

While the crew was distracted, Jack wrapped his hand in a rag to cover the Black Spot. He couldn't let anyone see that he was marked.

Gibbs looked for Jack and found him hiding behind the mast. "Do we have a heading?" he asked.

"Land!" Jack yelled back.

"What port?" Gibbs asked.

"I said land! Any land!" Just then, Jack the monkey jumped down from the rigging, landed on Jack's shoulder, and knocked the captain's hat overboard.

"Jack's hat!" Gibbs cried, knowing how fond of it the captain was. "Bring the ship around."

"No!" Jack snapped. "Leave it."

Jack's crew stood stunned. They knew how much the hat meant to him. They could not believe he would actually not want to retrieve it. "Mind your stations, the lot of you!" Gibbs ordered, and then he turned to Jack. "For the love of mother and child, Jack, what's coming after us?"

Jack looked positively terrified, but he replied "Nothing," shaking his head quickly. He gave Gibbs a "shoo" gesture, and closed his eyes, his head resting against the mast.


	26. Chapter 26

Captain Jack Sparrow's legendary three-cornered hat floated on the tide, turning slowly. By next morning, it had drifted far from the Black Pearl.

The hull of a small fishing vessel passed it, and suddenly the hat was snatched up by a boat hook. A short, round sailor pulled it from the water and was pleased with the look of the hat. He quickly tried it on.

Just then, his mate yanked it off his head. The two were pulling on the hat when a shudder suddenly ran through the boat. The men stopped struggling.

From beneath the deck came a loud crunching. The sailors staggered as their little vessel rocked. They looked wildly around and then down at the hat. The strange turn of events must have something to do with the hat. The sailors fought to rid themselves of it.

But the fight ended quickly, as the deck splintered and the entire boat was pulled straight down. A giant geyser rose up from the sea, raining down wood and bits of canvas. And, in the blink of an eye, the water was still and the fishing boat was wiped off the face of the earth, as though it had never existed.

Not far away, in the headquarters of the East India Trading Company, Will Turner was escorted by two guards into the office of Lord Beckett. A large, unfinished map of the world took up the whole wall of the office.

"Those won't be necessary," Beckett said, pointing to the shackles on Will's wrists.

The guards released Will. "Do you intend to release Elizabeth, as well?" Will asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

"That is entirely up to you," Beckett answered smugly, before he quickly rephrased his response. "That is entirely dependent on you," he clarified. Beckett used his cane to stoke the room's fireplace. "We wish for you to act as our agent in a business transaction with our mutual friend Captain Sparrow."

"More acquaintance than friend," Will said. "How do you know him?"

"We've had dealings in the past," Beckett said, displaying the letter "P" on the end of his glowing cane. The same P that was burned into Jack's arm. "We have each left our marks on the other."

"What mark did he leave on you?" Will asked, but Beckett did not respond. Instead, he said, "By your efforts, Jack Sparrow was set free. I ask you to go to him and recover a certain property in his possession, along with my sister Charlotte. The two of you are well-acquainted, as I have learned."

"Recover you sister," Will replied skeptically. "At the point of a sword?"

"Bargain," suggested a sly Beckett. "To mutual benefit and fair value."

He removed several large documents from his desk. They were signed by the King of England. "Letters of Marque," Beckett explained. "You will offer what amounts to a full pardon. Jack will be free, a privateer in the employ of England."

Will looked at the letters and shook his head. He knew that the Letters of Marque would give him the right to take Jack's possessions, but something didn't feel right. He thought back to Charlotte's answers when he'd asked her about her brother's characteristics. _"He's a schemer, Will. And you can never trust a schemer. They're like a cast die. You might think that you can see all of its faces, but there is always one hidden."_ Will replied, "For some reason, I doubt that Jack will consider employment to be the same as freedom."

"Jack Sparrow is a dying breed," Beckett snarled. He motioned to the map on the wall. "I do not desire my sister to perish along with his kind. She is worthy of better men. The word is shrinking, the blank edges of the map filled in. Jack will have to find a place in the New World, or perish."

"Not unlike you," Beckett continued, bringing the point home. "You and your fiancée face the hangman's noose. Certainly, that is motivation enough for you to convince Captain Sparrow to accept our offer. And for you to accept, as well, Mr. Turner."

Will considered the proposal, "So you'll get both Jack, Charlotte, and the Black Pearl?"

Beckett seemed surprised, "The Black Pearl? No, Mr. Turner, the item in question is considerably smaller and far more valuable, something Sparrow keeps on his person at all times. A Compass."

Beckett noticed a look of recognition on Will's face. "Ah, you know it," Beckett hissed.

"What is your sister to you?" Will asked, "You've never once returned to Port Royal to see what had become of your only sibling."

Beckett's face tightened, and a muscle in his jaw jumped. "My relationship with my sister is none of your concern, Mr. Turner."

Will scoffed, "Does it bother you knowing that she is gallivanting with pirates? Actually, she is with your enemy? Right now?"

Beckett stormed towards Will, his hands curled at his sides. Will silently dared the man to take a swing at him, but Beckett relaxed suddenly, knowing he was the one with the most power. "Bring both my sister and the Compass or there is no deal!"

Will stormed out of Beckett's office and through the gates of the Port Royal prison. He pushed past the red coated guard and moved down the stone corridor to Elizabeth's cell. Governor Swann followed closely behind.

"Here, now!" the guard called out. "You can't be here, Mister Swann!"

"Governor Swann," he replied, correcting the guard. "I'm not wearing this wig to keep my head warm, you know."

As the Governor approached the dank cell, he heard Elizabeth say to Will, "I understand Charlotte, but Jack's Compass? Why would Beckett want that?"

Elizabeth was behind bars, still in her wedding dress. "Does it matter?" Will asked. "I'm to find Jack and Charlotte and convince them to return to Port Royal. In exchange, the charges against us will be dropped."

Will stepped as close to Elizabeth as possible with bars between them. "If I hadn't set Jack and Charlotte free…" he began, trailing off regretfully. "I never expected you would bear the consequences."

Elizabeth smiled, "I share the consequences gladly." She reached through the bars and took his hands. "How are you going to find him?" she asked anxiously.

Her confidence in him touched Will's heard. He suddenly felt he could do anything. "Tortuga. I'll start there, and not stop searching until I find him, and then I will come back here, and marry you."

"Properly?" she asked.

"Eagerly. If you'll still have me," he added as a joke.

Elizabeth smiled, "If it weren't for these bars, I'd have you already."

The Governor coughed loudly, to remind the pair of his presence.

"Keep a weather eye on the horizon," Will said, before getting up and striding back down the hall, leaving Elizabeth behind.

Will started his search immediately. He would check every island in the Caribbean, if he had to- he was going to find Jack. He made his way to Tortuga, stopping at various island ports on the way. On one, he walked up to the dock and asked the first man he saw of Jack's whereabouts.

"Captain Jack Sparrow?" the weathered-sailor answered. "Owes me four dubloons. Heard he was dead."

Down a cobblestone alley on another island, Will made his way into a candlelit tavern. The innkeeper, a square, thickset man, told Will, "Ran off with a creole woman to Madagascar." Then he added, "she was half his age and twice his height."

On a beach, a half-blind fisherman told his version. "Singapore is what I heard. Sure as the tide," he nodded with a toothless grin. "Jack Sparrow will turn up in Singapore."

Will sighed. There were a thousand tales about Jack Sparrow's whereabouts. Will had one last chance to get to the truth- ironically, in a placed where the truth was hard to come by- Tortuga!

As soon as Will arrived, he saw two women he had met the last time he had been to Tortuga with Jack. One woman had red hair and wore a red dress. Her name, if he remembered correctly, was Scarlett. The other wore a green dress and had blonde hair; her name was Giselle. He figured he'd ask them if they'd seen Jack recently.

"I haven't seen him in a month," Scarlett snapped.

"When you find him, give him a message," said Giselle. They raised their hands and struck Will across the faced before stalking off together.

Rubbing his cheek as he walked on, he heard a voice calling out to him, "Will! Will Turner?" He recognized the voice immediately, and was both shocked and pleasantly surprised when he turned and saw Charlotte Vaughan waving at him from the end of the alley. She was standing outside the tavern Jack had taken them to on their last visit. As he approached Charlotte, Will realized she looked extremely different than she did the last time he'd seen her.

She was wearing an embroidered corset, with a neck that plunged farther than he cared to look. Strapped to her sides were a few knives, swords, and two silver pistols. She was wearing a pair of boots, and silk pants. She looked much slimmer and darker, but her eyes shone brighter than they did back in Port Royal. She had a look of happiness that seemed genuine, rather than forced.

Charlotte gave him a hug, "Oh I missed you so much Will! How are you? Elizabeth? Governor Swann? Are you and Elizabeth married yet? Children? Oh, and Norrington, how's he? I've got so many questions!"

Will nodded, feeling somewhat relaxed now that he'd found someone he knew. "So have I!" he replied, waiting until they could sit down and talk properly to relay his tale to her. Hopefully she and Jack would agree to return to Port Royal.

"Let's get a drink!" she said, steering him into the tavern, where they found a small private room in the back, supplied with a small table, two chairs, and a cart of rum. She walked over and passed Will a bottle, before uncorking her own. They each took a seat and clinked the bottles together, before taking a long sip.

"So," Charlotte began, "what brings you to Tortuga?"

Will paused before answering. "Jack," he said simply "I need to speak with him? Is he on the Pearl?"

Charlotte nodded, "I'd hope so. After all we went through to get the ship back, he'd better chain himself to the bloody thing."

Will choked on his rum, "Wait, you're not sailing with him?"

Charlotte shook her head. "I've been sailing myself, seeing all the different parts of the world. Last time I saw Jack was when I left him in India."

"You left Jack in India," Will clarified.

Charlotte nodded, "Over a year ago. Anamaria and I decided to go into business for ourselves. Eventually, she decided to stay on land, and I wasn't done sailing the seas, so I ended up sailing for Mistress Ching of the Pacific Ocean. She was the only person who would a woman work for her. I went up the ranks, became her right hand woman. Now I've even got my own ship. It's the one out on the docks with the purple sails." She was beaming as she told Will the story, and he could sense her pride as she spoke of her ship. "You wouldn't believe who my first mate is, though."

"Who?" asked Will curiously, thinking that it was probably someone he didn't know.

"Groves," Charlotte replied simply.

"WHAT?!" yelled Will, nearly upending the table. "Do you mean Groves, like Norrington's lieutenant?"

She nodded smugly, "the very same. Found him wandering an island, and decided to hire him to be part of my crew. Didn't sit right with him at first, what with being with pirates, but he came round eventually. And there's the added bonus that I know he won't stab me in the back."

Will nodded as he took a sip of his rum. As he did, his eyes rested on her bare collar where two small sparrows were inked just over her heart. "You're gotten some tattoos, I see."

She smiled, "Yeah. I sort of collected them as I went around to different places." She indicated her arms which were covered with drawings of ships, birds, swords,a nd runes. She pointed to a phoenix and sword that was inked on her left wrist, "I got yours and Elizabeth's initials," she said. Will bent across the table and spotted the initials W.T. and E.S.

He smiled on the outside, but internally he burned with regret. The first for not marrying Elizabeth sooner. And the second, because he was on a mission headed by Charlotte's brother, the one man that she would never forgive Will for working with.

"So what about you and Elizabeth? Have you gotten married yet?" she asked with a wink, as Will sat back in his seat.

"No… we were going to get married but the King's men interrupted the ceremony, and dragged Elizabeth and I into prison. We're going to be hanged for helping Jack escape."

Charlotte's eyes widened and it was her turn to exclaim, "What!"

Will nodded, "but the man who ordered our arrests made a deal with me. He wants Jack to return to Port Royal, where he'll be granted a full pardon. He just needs something from him… but I don't know what it is."

Charlotte's scrunched up her face, "Who is this man?"

Will's heart beat loudly against his chest as he lied, "I don't know. Never met him until now."

"Mmmhmm," Charlotte said. Part of her new that Will was lying, but another part still saw him as a friend who'd helped her escape death. She decided to ally herself with Will, "I'll help you find Jack. I've been wanting to talk to him as well."

Will nodded gratefully, "Thank you Charlotte, but I'm sure you're busy with the crew and all."

She waved Will's concern aside, "Nonsense. They can sail the ship without me for a while. I'll let Groves know right now. But tomorrow, we're going to search this whole island until we find someone who knows where Jack is. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Will said, as the pair got up.

Charlotte headed back outside, most likely to the docks to let Groves know of her leave.

Will went to the innskeeper and asked for a room with two beds. He followed the man up, knowing that Charlotte would be able to find him. As he got changed and climbed into the dingy bed, he thought about how she would feel if she knew who he was working for.

"Groves!" Charlotte shouted as she paced the deck of her ship. It wasn't extremely large, like the Pearl, but it was big enough for her. As if by magic, the man suddenly appeared by her side. She gave him a hug, "Will Turner is here, and he's looking for Jack. I'm going with him and I need you to hold down the fort till my return. Can you do that?"

Groves nodded, "Yes Captain."

She turned to the rest of the crew. "Until I return, Groves here is your new Captain. Treat him like you treat me. And when I return, I expect nothing to have changed in terms of management. Is that clear?"

There was a chorus of agreements, as she headed back to the rungs. Groves followed her, "What about Mistress Ching?" he asked. "She's going to be waiting for your return."

"She's still got a few good years left, alright? She can wait. In the meantime, I need you to visit our friend Tia Dalma. She'll let you know where to meet up with me. I don't know why or how, but if anything goes wrong, at least you'll be forewarned."

Groves sighed, "I've never liked her."

"Well you better start warming up to the thought of her, because she's the only one that knows where adventures will begin, and where they will end," Charlotte replied before giving Groves another hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Take care of the Reign for me." She gave him a smile as she climbed back down to the docks and headed towards the Tavern where Will had gotten them a room.

"I'm going to miss my ship," said Charlotte, as she climbed into the other bed.

Will sighed, "Don't worry. This adventure, shouldn't take too long. You'll be back with your crew in a month."

Charlotte scoffed, "If we're going on an adventure with Jack, we don't know how long its going to be."


	27. Chapter 27

**HAPPY CANADA DAY! HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER! OH, and …. Uh…. Good Job America. You've got July 4th coming up right? Yeah… and then your election…. With some pretty crappy nominees. Want us to send you a moose to represent option number three? Like, if you're interested, let us know. We've got some great CANADAdates. Get it? "Canada" dates? Aww man, I'm so goddamn funny, need to give myself a pat on the back for that one.**

The moment the sun rose in the morning, Will and Charlotte took to the streets to find someone who'd either come across Jack, Gibbs, or the Pearl itself. They wandered around the various docks of Tortuga, asking every person they came across whether they'd spotted one of the three things.

By the afternoon, Will thought they would never find Jack. But Charlotte kept boosting morale, asking him about Elizabeth and life in Port Royal since she'd left. Will kept the conversation focused on the pair and their wedding, and had no desire to tell Charlotte of her brother's return, as well as his henchmen. Rather, he'd created a fictitious character called Lord Harold who had halted the ceremony and forced Will to hunt Jack down. He also avoided telling Charlotte that it was the compass he was looking for, knowing full well that Charlotte would have discovered the truth of his mission.

Finally, around the late evening, they came across a shrimper who was sitting on the deck of a small boat, knitting a net. "Can't say 'bout Jack Sparrow," he told the pair when they'd asked him. "But there's an island just south of the straits where I trade spice for _mmmmmmm_ delicious long pork. No, can't say for Jack, but you'll find a ship there, a ship with black sails."

Will and Charlotte exchanged a look, before offering the man a few coins to sail them out to the island. As they stood on the boat overlooking the ocean, a look of peace came across Charlotte's face. "You love it out here, don't you?" Will asked.

Charlotte smiled, "The beauty of it never goes away. Like, people might look beautiful when they're young, but that goes away. This-" she gestured to the sea, "it never changes, and when it does, it looks better than before."

Will looked out across the clear blue waters, and silently agreed, but part of his mind was still fixed on the mission that he had to complete.

As they came around the point, Will and Charlotte saw it for themselves; the _Black Pearl_ careened onto the sand.

"My brother, he will row you to shore," the shrimper told the pair. He gave a taller, round-faced man a nod as the pair climbed into the small rowboat.

Halfway to the beach, the brother stopped rowing altogether, a perpetual scared look on his face. Will and Charlotte exchanged looks, "What's wrong?" Will asked.

"Ne bougeais pas, c'est trop dangereux" said the man quickly.

Will raised an eyebrow, as Charlotte translated, "He said do not go, it's very dangerous." She turned back to the brother, "pourquoi est-il dangereux? ne pouvez pas vous nous déposer plus près ?" (Why is it dangerous? Can't you drop us off any closer?)

"Je ne peux, c'est trop dangereux, j'avais le dit. Bon voyage monsieur et madame," he replied, his eyes widening.

Charlotte stood up, "we're going to have to swim. Merci beaucoup monsieur," she said to the brother, before jumping into the water and swimming ashore. Will followed her and the pair soon began to draw nearer to the beach.

Will looked behind him and saw the brother feverishly paddling back to the shrimp boat. He shook his head and continued forward, wondering what they could be so scared of.

Soaking wet, the pair walked across the beach and toward the Black Pearl. The huge vessel rested, wedged into the sand. No noise came from her decks.

"JACK! JACK ARE YOU THERE?" Charlotte yelled, as they walked closer to the ship.

"JACK SPARROW!" the pair called up to the ship. Charlotte turned to Will, "this is a long-shot, but they might all just be drunk or dead. I'll check the ship, you start in the forest, I'll meet up with you." She quickly began to climb up the ropes that held the ship in the sand, while Will headed towards the forest. As he entered the forest, he spotted a flutter in the branches; It was Cotton's parrot.

"Good to see a familiar face," Will said to the bird, now ever more sure that Jack and his crew must be somewhere on the island.

"Don't eat me!" the parrot squawked.

"I'm not going to eat you," Will said, confused.

"DON'T EAT ME!" screamed the parrot, louder than ever.

Will shook his head, drew his sword, and began hacking into the jungle. He cut through the huge leaf of a palm tree and noticed a small, brown flask on the jungle floor. "Gibbs…." Will said quietly, recognizing the old pirate's flask.

He crouched down to pick it up and spotted a trip wire attached. Will smiled, thinking the pirates had set a trap. Holding onto the flask, he followed the wire to a nearby tree. Suddenly, two eyes appeared in the trunk as a perfectly camouflaged arm reached out and yanked the wire hard.

In an instant, Will was pulled off his feet and dangled upside down. As he hung by his legs, he saw a group of the island's warriors.  
They all had bite marks on their faces and bodies, and were wearing what looked like human bones. Will remembered the fear in the shrimper's eyes, and the parrot's warning. The warriors lunged at him with their spears raised and began to poke him. Will began to wave his sword around threateningly. "Come on!" he yelled, provoking the warriors. "I'm right here!"

The warriors exchanged confused looks as one of them raised a blowgun and fired a dart into Will's neck. He went limp and the warriors cut him down.


	28. Chapter 28

Meanwhile, in a dank cell in Port Royal, Elizabeth could do nothing but wait. The moonlight shone through the cell's small windows, and cast shadows on the wall. The men in the cell next to her snapped their fingers and whistled as she scooted herself farther from them.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall behind her, allowing herself a small amount of sleep. Just then, she heard the jangle of keys and opened one eye.

"Come quickly," she heard a voice that sounded like her father's call out. She stood up and saw her father standing in the entrance of the cell. She nodded quickly and lifted the skirts of her dress as she followed his wake.

"What's happening?" she asked.

Her father didn't say anything until they'd reached close to the exit of the prison. Our name still holds some away with the King. I've arranged passage for you back to England. The captain is an old friend-"

Elizabeth's heart stopped as her father spoke. She couldn't leave Port Royal. Or Will. "No. Will has gone-"

"We cannot count on William Turner," said her father angrily.

"He's a better man than you give him credit for," she replied, sensing the distaste and bitterness of her fathers voice as he spoke her fiance's name.

"Please- this is non time for innocence," her father replied quickly. He quickly produced a pistol from one of his inner pockets. "Beckett has only two pardons. Two. And they have been promised to Sparrow and Vaughan. Even if Will succeeds…." He trailed off, and Elizabeth could see small tears gathering in her father's eyes as he looked up at her. "Do not ask me to endure the sight of losing my daughter walking to the gallows. Do not." He shoved the pistol into her hands, and Elizabeth's skin broke out in goosebumps at the sudden touch of cold metal. Her father opened the door to the carriage that had been parked outside, and helped her in, before heading to the reins himself. Before he could shut the door she spoke softly, "Yet you ask me to leave without you."

Her father smiled, "I must stay. There are still men loyal to me here, and Beckett is wary of my ties to the Crown. Perhaps I can ensure Will a fair trial, should he return."

Elizabeth's jaw tightened. "A fair trial for Will ends in a hanging," she replied coolly.

The Governor looked sad as he acknowledged the truth of Elizabeth's statement. "Then there is nothing for you here." And with that he closed the door, and headed to the reins, hurrying the carriage to the docks. Where a ship was docked, in wait.

He quickly got down from the bench and turned to the carriage, "stay inside," he said to Elizabeth, before he headed towards a figure who stood in the shadows by the ship. "Captain Hawkins," he said, as he hurried to the man.

Suddenly, the Captain fell to the floor, and Mercer stood before him, wiping the bloodied knife on a handkerchief. "Evening, Governor," he said, before following Swann's eyes to the dead body between them. "Shame, that."

Swann stood petrified in horror as Mercer produced an unsealed letter that bore the mark of Governor's house, and a small amount of blood. "He had this on his person," Mercer began. "A letter to the King…. It's from you," he stated plainly, tutting.

Swann regained consciousness, and ran for the carriage. "Elizabeth!" he cried. As he ran, Mercer whistled and a few company troops appeared, circling both the carriage and the governor. They caught Swann before he could open the door to the carriage, and dragged him out of the way. Mercer caught up with them, and yanked the door open, to reveal an empty carriage. He turned to Swann, "where is she?" he growled menacingly.

"Who?" asked Swann, knowing they knew he was lying.

Mercer quickly wrapped his hand around Swann's throat and slammed the Governor against the side of the carriage. "Elizabeth," he replied.

"She was always a willful child," Swann replied, with a smirk. The troops fastened manacles on his wrists and he was allowed a single glance at the empty carriage as he was marched away.

Beckett entered his office, his hands clenched firmly around a letter he'd always carried around on his person. It was the last one Charlotte had ever written him.

 _To My Pathetic Excuse of a Brother,_

 _It has been almost two years since you last wrote me, and three weeks since I last wrote you. It has been long enough, and I have had enough. This one-sided relationship we have had since our parent's passing has made me both weak and weary. I have grown tired of waiting for your responses, whether it be in person or in ink. I have no desire to keep in contact with someone who refuses to do the same for me. Because of this, I will no longer refer to myself as a Beckett, but rather as a Vaughan, for I have no desire to be linked to someone as horrible as your self. If you did not want anything to do with me, then you could have said so, rather than leaving a younger version of myself with such large hopes. Do not speak to me. Do not look for me. Do not attempt to contact me (should the need ever arise- it is unlikely). From now on, I am no longer your sister, and you are no longer my brother. And should we ever cross paths again, it is likely you will not recognize me. Time changes a person, and perhaps that change is for the better._

 _With the least amount of love possible,_

 _C. Vaughan_

It had destroyed him when he decided to pull himself away from his sister. The last thing he wanted was an enemy to find the only remaining family member he had. His only chance of keeping Charlotte safe was by isolating himself from her, so that pirates who wanted to destroy Beckett- Sparrow-would not be tempted to find her. As his luck would have it, his sister was currently in the company of his worst enemy. And his actions had brought about these consequences.

He folded the letter up and placed it in his pocket as he lit a lamp. As he turned to his desk, he noticed the case that usually contained the Letters of Marque was open. As he approached it he cast a glance around the room. "No doubt you're discovered that loyalty is no longer the currency of the realm, as your father believes."

Elizabeth stepped out of the shadows, the Letters of Marque clenched firmly in her hands. "Then what is?" she asked.

"Currency is the currency of the realm," Beckett replied knowingly, as he turned to face her.

"I expect, then, we can reach an understanding. I am here to negotiate." Elizabeth remembered the lessons she and Charlotte took when it came to etiquette and negotiation. While Charlotte would usually manipulate the situation, resorting to force where necessary, Elizabeth was always too kind. Now, as she understood it, was not the time to be kind. Now was the time to be stoic.

"I am listening," said Beckett, in a slightly bored voice.

Elizabeth produced the pistol, aiming it directly at Beckett's head, her finger wrapped around the trigger.

"I am listening intently," he replied in the same drawl.

"You haven't raised an alarm," Elizabeth noted, by the lack of fear and soldiers in the room.

"This does not seem to be a situation I cannot handle," Beckett replied smartly.

Elizabeth now noted how much Charlotte and Beckett were alike. While they were physically polar opposites, they both had an air of calm, cockiness, and brains around them.

Elizabeth laid the letters on the desk in front of Beckett, "These letters of marque. They are signed by the King- but blank."

"And not valid till they bear my signature and seal," Beckett replied.

"Or else I would not still be here," Elizabeth stated.

Beckett turned to her, "and what do you think you have to offer me, young lady?" He made sure not to seem threatening, knowing that he wanted to live to see his sister one more time.

"Information. You sent Will to get you the compass owned by Jack Sparrow. It will do you no good," Elizabeth replied, using her bargaining chip as she thought Charlotte would.

"Do explain," Beckett said, knowing that Elizabeth had nothing to offer him. She lowered the pistol slightly as she spoke. "I have been to Isle de Muerta. I have seen the treasure myself. There is something you need to know."

"Ah. I see. You think the Compass points only to Isle de Muerta. And so you hope to save me from an evil fate. I am afraid you are mistaken, Miss Swann. I care not for cursed Aztec Gold. My desires are not so provincial." He nodded to the large world map painted on the wall. "There is more than one chest of value in these waters. So perhaps you wish to enhance your offer-"

Elizabeth raised the pistol and cocked it. "Consider into your calculations that you robbed me of my wedding night." She gestured to the letters and watched as Beckett slowly moved to the desk and signed the document, before affixing his seal.

"So I did. A marriage interrupted- or fate intervenes? You are making great effort to ensure Sparrow's freedom."

Elizabeth took the letters, "These are not going to Jack."

"Really? To ensure Mr. Turner's freedom, then. But what of you and Jack? And what of my sister and Jack? And what of me? I'll still be wanting both the compass and Charlotte's safe return. Consider that in your calculations."

Elizabeth quickly exited the office, heading for the docks, Will's words ringing through her head. _"I'll start off in Tortuga."_


	29. Chapter 29

**Sorry it's so short, but I'm doing it by scenes. Hope you enjoy!**

Will awoke to find himself bound to a long stick and hoisted on the shoulders of several villagers. The crowd of villagers standing in front of him parted, and Will was able to see a large throne made of skeletons. And sitting atop the throne was Jack, his face painted with several eyes.

"Jack Sparrow," Will said loudly, drawing the attention to him. "I can honestly say I am glad to see you."

Jack gave him no sign of recognition, and turned to one of the men, and began to speak in a language Will didn't understand.

"Jack? Jack, it's me, Will Turner. Tell them to let me go."

Jack stood from his throne and strolled towards Will. He stopped before him and began to examine Will through a series of random pinches and prods. He then pointed to Will's groin and shook his head, turning to the crowd of interested villagers. "euniche…. Snip snip," he muttered, making a snipping gesture.

"AH EUNICHE," the villagers said aloud.

Will rolled his eyes, "Jack listen-" he noticed the compass swinging wildly from Jack's belt. "The compass. That's al I need. Jack- Elizabeth is in danger. We were arrested- for helping you!"

One of the villagers pointed to Will's leg and rubbed his stomach.

Jack nodded and said something in the strange language, causing them to cheer and grab Will once more.

"What did you tell them?" Will cried, his eyes wide.

Jack refused to answer, and as they dragged Will past, he quickly bent down and whispered "save me."

Will frowned. He was the one being taken away for food, and Jack returned to his throne, yet Jack needed saving. He was pulled away and taken to a cage, filled with pirates.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his arm. He turned around quickly and saw Gibbs, Marty, and Cotton. "Turner, what are ye doing here?" Gibbs asked passing Will his flask.

Will took a look around this cage and spotted another one hanging a few yards away, filled with more pirates that Will hadn't met before.

"Why would Jack do this to you? If he's the chief-" Will began.

"Aye," Gibbs interrupted. "the Pelegostos made Jack their Chief, but he stays chief for only so long as he acts like a chief… which means he cannot do anything they think a Chief ought not to do."

Will nodded, "He's a captive then, as much as any of us."

"Worse, as it turns out," Gibbs spoke grimly. "The Pelegostos believe that Jack is a God, trapped in human form… they intend to do Jack the honour of releasing him from his fleshy prison."

Will frowned, he didn't understand. Behind Gibbs' shoulder, Cotton grabbed Gibbs' hand and bit into it. Gibbs wrenched his hand away and Will gave the pair an appalled look. "They'll roast him and eat him. It's a deeply-held religious belief…. or, we figure, maybe they just get awful hungry."

Will paused and took in the numbers of Jack's crew; they were too few. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

Gibbs smiled wryly, "these cages we're in? Wasn't built till after we got here."

Will quickly removed his hands from the frame of the cage. Gibbs glanced up to the sky, "the feast starts when the sun sets. Jack's life will end… when the drums stop."

Pintel and Ragetti thought they were quite fortunate to have freed themselves from the prison. It had taken quite the effort, but they also managed to lift a mall rowboat, and were making their way to the island, as they'd heard from those on Tortuga, that the Pearl had been spotted there. Pintel rowed quietly, as a small dog with keys in its mouth sat between the two. Ragetti had a book open in front of him, "…. I think it was Divine Providence what escaped us from jail."

"And I say it was me being clever," Pintel replied scathingly. The dog barked and Pintel scratched its ear, "isn't that right poochie."

"How do you know it wasn't Divine Providence what inspired you to be so clever? Anyways I ain't stealing no ship," Ragetti said.

Pintel rolled his eyes, "It ain't stealing, it's salvaging, and since when did you care?"

"Now that we're not immortal no more, we need to take care of our immortal souls," Ragetti continued, staring down at the book with interest.

"You know you can't read," Pintel spat, rolling his eyes.

"It's the Bible," Ragetti replied, "you get credit for trying."

"Pretending to read the Bible's a lie and that's a mark against-," he pointed up towards the sky. Suddenly, he looked past Ragetti's shoulder and to the island. "Look there it is!"

Ragetti twisted around in his seat and saw the Pearl docked on the island, careened onto shore. Suddenly, the dog barked and leapt out of the boat, swimming to the shores.

"What's got into him," Ragetti asked, turning back to Pintel.

"Must have spotted a catfish," Pintel replied, laughing at his own joke. It took Ragetti a moment, before he joined in, when suddenly the small longboat capsized.

They reached the shores and admired the Black Pearl, grins plastered onto their faces. "It's ours for the taking," Pintel growled.

"Tide's coming in, that'll help," Ragetti replied. Pintel shot him a surprised look, and Ragetti shrugged, "Salvaging's saving it, in a manner of speaking…"

Pintel clapped him on the back, "Aye, there's the truth of it!"

Suddenly, the sound of drums reached their ears and the pair exchanged concerned looks. "And I suppose we'd beat save it as soon as we can, what with out souls in such a vulnerable state and all," Ragetti said suddenly.

Pintel crossed himself several times, "Amen to that!"

They ran to the ropes and began to haul themselves aboard.


	30. Chapter 30

"Pintel! Raggetti!" Charlotte cried when the two men arrived on the top deck. She drew her sword and marched towards them. "Help me prep the ship to make way and I swear neither Jack nor myself will skin you alive for everything you did the last time we were all on the Pearl."

Pintel gulped, "Yes Miss Vaughan."

He quickly nudged Ragetti in the ribs (the man was too busy staring at Charlotte to say anything) and the pair scarpered off to make way.

The beat of the drums was building as the Pelegostals prepared for the feast. Jack nodded as they built the pit larger and larger, forcing a smile. He watched in horror as they placed a large spit over the fire pit. Jack gulped and took a breath; "Not big enough!" he shouted, boldly striding forward to the pit, pretending to act more like a chief to buy time.

He frowned at the Pelegostals who watched Jack with interest. "Not big enough!" he said, widening his arms. "I am the chief! I need more wood! Big fire!" he said in the language of the Pelegostals. "More wood!"

The warriors dropped their spears and hurried away to find wood enough to satisfy the chief. Jack straightened up and crossed his arms, glowering at them until they were all gone.

Then he ran,

He followed the trails and stumbled across a rickety wooden bridge stretched across a large chasm. He made his way through a small cluster of huts and suddenly found himself at the edge of a steep cliff, one step away from falling over. He quickly turned on his heel and ran into the nearest hut.

"Rope, rope, rope," he said, digging through the hut's contents.

As he rummaged around, he knocked over a small container with spices. He disregarded it, but then turned back, noting the engraving on the lid: the East India Trading Company Insignia. He picked it up and the rope he'd just found next to it and turned towards the entrance of the hut. He saw a large warrior standing in the entrance, staring Jack down.

Jack quickly tossed the rope aside and opened the can of spices, rubbing it on his body. "See?"

That didn't work.

Jack soon found himself coated in a nice dusting of fresh spices and tied to the enormous spit hanging over a huge pile of kindling wood set in a large pit. He sighed and looked down at the fire pit, which now, thanks to his own efforts, was huge. He nodded at the warriors who beamed with pride.

Meanwhile, inside their cages, the pirates waited helplessly. But Will Turner wasn't about to give up. Elizabeth's life was in his hands, and he had to get to Jack and Charlotte. He looked around at the rope that tethered the two cages and quickly yelled to the other pirates, "Swing your cage!"

He, Gibbs, Marty, Cotton and the other pirates began to shift their weight from side to side, causing the cage to rock. "Get it to the wall!"

Leech and the other pirates in the other cage got the idea. They rocked theirb cage to the side of the steep chasm wall and grabbed a vine. "Put your feet through," Will shouted. "Start to climb!"

Pulling with all their might and grabbing for footholds, the crewmembers slowly moved the two cages up the wall.

"Come on men! It's going to take all of us to crew the Black Pearl" Gibbs growled.

"Actually, we don't need everyone. About six would do…." Leech replied.

The pirates in each cage exchanged looks before they both began to scramble for the top.

As they raced, guard passed over the large rickety bridge and Will quickly forced the pirates to stop moving. Will waited and watched both the other cage and the warrior man. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Leech's mouth moving, and their cage began to rise higher.

Leech, determined to win, began climbing, pulling at various vines. One of which turned out to be a snake. With a scream, he and the pirates in his cage let go of their vines, causing the cage to plummet down the chasm.

Suddenly, the man crossing the bridge stopped and looked at the single cage. Will winced as the warrior cried and bolted down the bridge. As he ran, the drums stopped beating.

Inside the village, jack was tied up like a turkey on thanksgiving, a torch coming closer to lighting the pit. The guard suddenly burst into the crowd, screaming and pointing in the direction of the chasm.

The eyes of the villagers turned to Jack, who was still chief. He clicked his tongue and grunted. "After them! Don't let them get away!" he jerked his head.

The warriors hesitated before storming off towards the bridge. The man with the torch tossed it aside, and it rolled until it just connected with a small piece of wood on the outer edge of the piece.

The twig burst into flames and suddenly the entire pit was on fire. Jack tried to blow it out, but there was no use.

Back in the chasm, Will's cage reached the top first. They rolled the cage up to the edge of the cliff and quickly pulled their legs through the holes. "Put your legs through!" Will called out.

"Lift it like a lady's skirt!" Gibbs cried.

They quickly made their way across the field, attempting to outrun the islanders.

Back in the village, jack was trying to move quickly and was desperately trying to bounce the spit up and down and completely away form the fire. A boy from the village sat at the table, knife and fork in hand.

Jack finally bounced high enough and fell away from the pit, gasping for air, and trying not to think about how close he was to death. He managed to stand upright; his back still tied to the long spit on his back.

The boy who watched Jack's escape quickly got up and ran into the jungle. He caught up to the warriors and told then that Jack had ran away. The warriors immediately backed off of the crew and headed for Jack himself.

Not far away, Will and his portion of the pirates that had broken free from the cage arrived on the beach, and headed towards the Pearl which was already prepped to head into the water.

While the warriors had been busy chasing Jack and Will and the pirates, Pintel, Ragetti and Charlotte had already prepped the ship to make way.

Gibbs was the first aboard. "Excellent," he said, clapping his hands. "Our work's half done!"

"Your welcome," said Charlotte from the wheel, smirking at Gibbs who was surprised and glad to see her.

"Miss Vaughan!" he yelled coming towards her and kissing her hand, "my my, you grow more beautiful by each passing day."

"Thank you Mister Gibbs," she replied as she nodded to Pintel and Ragetti to haul the mooring line.

The rest of the crew, including Will (who gave them a sideways look) didn't give Pintel and Ragetti a second look.

"Make ready for sail!" Charlotte cried, her short time on the Pearl coming in handy. She knew how everything worked, where it was supposed to be, and how to make the Pearl head for the open sea as quick as possible.

"What about Jack? I won't leave without him!" Will cried, as he headed towards Charlotte and Gibbs at the wheel.

Charlotte suddenly pointed to the beach, a look of horror on her face. Will and Gibbs looked up to see Jack running down the beach with a hoard of warriors at his heels.

"Jack! Hurry!" Gibbs cried, as the ship slowly made its was off of the sand. Jack was hurrying. He's managed to remove himself from the spit, his arms flailing as he tried to stay ahead of the warriors.

"Cast off! Cast off!" Charlotte cried.

Onshore, the small dog that Pintel and Ragetti had brought with them sat on the sand, growling at the warriors.

"Good doggy!" Jack shouted, patting it on the head as he ran. He ran into the water and to the side of the Pearl, which had just entered the water. Jack grabbed ahold of the rigging on the side of the ship.

Jack turned back to the warriors who'd stopped at the edge of the water, crying out for their meal. "Alas my children! This is the day you shall always remember as the day that you almost-"

A huge wave splashed over Jack, drowning out part of his sentence. "Captain…. Jack…. Sparrow." He turned around and began to climb aboard the ship, not knowing who else was on board...


	31. Chapter 31

Gibbs marched up to Jack, and threw his Captain's coat over him, "lets put some distance between us and this island. Head out to open sea."

Jack nodded, "yes to the first, yes to the second, but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible."

"That seems contradictory," Charlotte said with a grin, as she approached Jack tentatively.

He gave her a shocked look, "well, look who decided to return back to the Pearl." He gently wrapped a hand around her waist before whispering, "get tired of seeing the world?"

Charlotte grinned, "I've done more than see the world Jack. I assure you." She moved away from him and stood between Will and Jack, "we need your help."

"Elizabeth is in danger," Will spoke quickly.

Jack rolled his eyes and began to steer the ship, one hand on the wheel, the other hoping to grasp Charlotte once more, but she stayed just out of her reach. "Have you considered keeping a more watchful eye on her? Maybe just lock her up somewhere?"

Charlotte rolled here eyes, but her mind considered this. After all, they were always trying to save Elizabeth.

"She is locked up," began Will. "In a prison, bound to hang for helping you!"

"There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes," Jack replied, not meeting Will's eyes.

Charlotte turned to Jack. "Please Jack. We did get the Pearl back for you," she replied.

Jack considered this, "no." He replied shortly.

Charlotte tried again. This time, she moved into Jack's reach and began to whisper something in to his ear. Judging by the excited look on Jack's face, and the tightening this hand on her waist, Will had a hunch of what she was offering. Jack considered her new proposal before saying, "no, but can we still do that?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes and nodded to Will, who pulled out a sword and pointed it at Jack. "I need that compass of yours, Jack. I must trade it for her freedom."

Charlotte spun around on her heel and produced a gun, pointing it at Will's head. "You liar! You told me that you didn't know what the man wanted from Jack!"

Will turned to her, his sword still pointing at Jack, "I'm sorry Charlotte, but i couldn't tell you."

"You couldn't tell me?" she argued. "I tell you everything- how can I trust you again?"

"I'm sorry Charlotte," Will muttered, not meeting her eye.

Jack pushed Will's sword aside,e leaving Charlotte at the wheel, "Master Gibbs," he called.

"Captain," Gibbs responded.

"We have need to travel upriver," Jack replied. Charlotte grinned, knowing where they were heading, and began to turn the ship to the right.

A look of misery erupted on Gibbs's face, "By need, d'you mean a... trifling need, uh... a.. fleeting, as in say in a passing fancy?"

"No, a resolute and unyielding need," he replied.

Will sighed,"what we need to do is make seal for Port Royal with all haste."

Jack turned to Will, a mischievous grin on his face, "William... i will trade you the Compass, if you will help me... to find this." He produced the cloth with the drawing of the key and showed it to the pair.

"You wand me to find this?" Will asked, pointing to the key.

"No," Jack replied. "You want you to find thins. Because the finding of this finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating and your discovering the detecting of a way to save your dolly belle ol' what's-her-face. Savvy?"

Charlotte gave an inward grin, knowing what Jack was up to, while Will was confused as ever. "This... is going to save Elizabeth?" he asked, taking the cloth from him.

Jack hesitated before asking, "how much do you know about Davy Jones?"

"Not much," Will replied.

Jack nodded with enthusiasm as he returned to the wheel, leaving Will with the cloth. "Yeah, it's gonna save Elizabeth." Jack spun around on his heel and headed down into the ship towards the Captain's Quarters.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, and knew that something was wrong with Jack. She quickly followed him and closed the doors so they were alone. "Back so soon love?" Jack said with a grin.

Charlotte smirked, "yes but not because of what you think." She quickly slipped into his arms and undid the top few buttons of his shirt before leaning into his body and whispering "what is on your hand?"

Jack jumped back, "I have no idea what you're talking about?" He headed around to the bed and gave her a look that said "are you joining me?"

Charlotte nodded, realizing this was the only way to realize what Jack was hiding.

The pair were laying there, Jack's covered hand lying on Charlotte's waist. She rolled around so she could look at him, "Jack, what's on your hand."

Jack gave her a nod, "do you really want to know?"

She nodded, "yes. I do." Charlotte took a deep breath, "so are you going to tell me?"

Jack sighed before saying "promise me you won't tell anyone about this." He held out his hand and let Charlotte unwrap it. She gently undid the small knot and unwrapped the cloth from Jack's hand. In his palm was a large black spot. Her mind raced through the years of reading she and Elizabeth and done concerning pirates. He mind landed on the Kraken, and Davy Jones.

"You've been marked by Davy Jones?" Charlotte whispered. "But that would mean you owe him."

Jack grinned, "remember when I told you that I re-commandered the Wicked Wench after your brother arrested me?" Charlotte nodded. "I lied. Your brother nearly killed me. He tried to burn the Wench down and I was on it. before I died, Jones came to me and I struck a bargain. He raised the Wench back from the depths and made me Captain, but only for thirteen years." Jack paused, waiting for her to say something.

Charlotte considered Jack, "Just when i think that you're the most ruthless person, you tell me something like this that makes me like you more."

Jack grinned and re-wrapped his hand.


	32. Chapter 32

**So, I'm going away for a few weeks and I decided to post two chapters for each story today because I won't have access to my laptop for a while.**

Elsewhere on the ocean, a figure slipped silently across the ravine of the Edinburg Trader. It was Elizabeth Swann, still dressed in the clothes of a sailor. She moved toward the light of the captain's cabin, where she could hear voices raised in an argument.

"it;s an outrage!" Captain Bellamy complained, looking at the ship's accounts. "Port tariffs, berthing fees, and, heaven help me, pilotage!"

""I'm afraid sir. Tortuga is the only free port left in these waters," the ship's quartermaster offered, knowing the captain was bound to respond.

And respond he did. Bellamy was furious. "A pirate port is what you mean! Well, I'm sorry, but an honest sailor I am. I make my living square, and sleep well each night, thank you."

He didn't get to continue. "Sir!" the bursar interrupted, pointing to the cabin window.

"What?" Bellamy demanded angrily. But the bursar was shaking so hard he could only point. The captain turned around to see a shadowy white dress float by the cabin window. He ran out to the dimly lit deck.

"Tell me you do see that," the ship's cook asked, terrified.

"Aye, I do see that," Bellamy answered as he watched the white gown float to the bowsprit. High up in the rigging, Elizabeth secretly pulled the dress along by a fishing line. With a whisk of her arm, she pulled a line that raised the arm of the dress. It pointed to Captain Bellamy, then out to sea. His crew immediately shuffled away from him.

"She wants you to do something," the bursar said.

"Jump overboard?" the quartermaster suggested quickly.

Bellamy tossed him a scowl,"She's trying to give you a sign."

then, on the sea winds, a soft voice whispered. "Tor... tu..ga."

"Did you hear that?" the cook exclaimed.

"Bur-mu-da?" the bursar said.

"Tobago?" the quartermaster offered.

Suddenly, the ghostly bride raced toward the rail and dripped over the side. As the crew was busy looking overboard. Elizabeth dropped down behind him.

'Look for a sign!" Bellamy shouted to his men.

"There!" The quartermaster yelled, pointing out to sea. "There is is! There's the sign!"

"That's seaweed," a sailor pointed out.

"Seaweed can be a sign," the quartermaster argued.

Elizabeth lost all patience. She grabbed the shoulder of the bursar and turned him around. "What's that over there?" she asks din a low, deep voice.

On the deck, the word "Tortuga" was burning away in lamp oil.

"Is it telling us to go there?" the terrified quartermaster asked.

Elizabeth was about to burst with frustration when Captain Bellamy spoke. "Men," he said. "what can ye say to a course change? Prudence suggests we make way for the island of Tortuga."

As the crew shouted their approval. Elizabeth pulled her sailor's cap down lover over her face and smiled. Her plan had worked. Now, all she could do was wait.


	33. Chapter 33

Elizabeth was headed to Tortuga to find Will, but Will was nowhere near Tortuga. He was with Jack and Charlotte heading inland.

Through the heavy mist, two longboats form the Black Pearl rowed tot he mouth of the Pentane River. Will, Ragetti, Charlotte and Gibbs rode in the lead, followed by Jack, Pintel, and Cotton. Next to Cotton was a cage covered in a length of canvas.

As they rowed past thick tangles of roots and bark, Will quietly asked Gibbs the question the vast majority of the crew wanted to know. "Why is Jack afraid of the open seas?"

Gibbs heaved a sigh, while Charlotte turned her head away from Will's line of sight. "Well if you believe in such things, there's a beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that suction your face clean off. And drag an entire ship past the crushing darkness. The Kraken!"

Charlotte and the other occupants of the boat turned around and gave Gibbs dark and Ragetti exchanged frightened looks.

Gibbs continued, "They say the stench of its breath is like... Imagine- the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the Kraken, and the reeking of a thousand rotting corpses." He caught the look on everyone's face- including Jack's- before adding, "If you believe such things."

"And the key will spare him that?" Will asked, wondering just how valuable an object that key was.

"Now that's the very question Jack wants answered. Bad enough even to go visit... _her_ "

"Her?" Will asked.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and nodded "Her." The three of them turned back around and scanned their environment. Around the trees, cloaked in darkness stood small groups of people, watching the boats pass with mild interest.

Jack turned back to Charlotte, who was brimming with joy about meeting the woman who scared Jack. "NO worries, mates. Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable we are."

Will's eyes met Jack's and he jerked his head towards Charlotte, who's brain was miles away. Jack quickly amended his statement, "were. Have been. Before."

Will gave a slight cough, jerking Charlotte out of her thoughts. She shot the three men dark looks and Gibbs quickly lent over to whisper something in Jack's ear. "I'll watch your back."

"It's me front I'm worried about," Jack said with all honesty. "Mind the boat," he told Charlotte.

"Mind the boat," Charlotte whispered to Will.

Will turned to Gibbs. "mind the boat."

Gibbs turned to Pintel,"mind the boat."

Pintel opened his mouth and was about to tell Marty the same when Charlotte sighed, "Cotton, mind the bloody boat." She shook her head and walked past Gibbs and Will, a scowl on her face.

Gibbs turned to Jack, "What did you do to her?"

Jack sighed, "I have a faint idea." He cautiously entered Tia's shack, pushing the rotting wooden door open so slowly, Will thought it might break at his touch. He heard a hissing noise coming from below and glanced down, expecting to see some sort of river. Rather, a small snake was weaving its way through the feet of the guests.

In the centre of the room sat a woman. Her long black hair in locs, wearing a tight had black lips, dark eyes, and a malicious grin. "Jack Sparrow!" She cried.

"Tia Dalma," Jack replied with the same enthusiasm, but more guarded.

Tia stood up and walked towards Jack, tracing a finger around his jaw, and fiddling with his braided beard. "I always knew the wind was going to blow you back to me one day." She looked at Charlotte and her grin lessened, "you have heart, i can see it for miles."

Charlotte gave her a hug, "It's been far too long Tia."

Jack whipped his head around and looked between the pair, 'you know one another?" he asked, pointing between them.

Tia laughed and Charlotte nodded, "I stayed with Tia for a few days. She taught me quite a bit about her magic." Jack paled slightly but let Tia go on to greet the others.

She walked past Gibbs, Pintel, and Ragetti before stopping at Will. "You. You have a touch of destiny about you, William Turner."

Will was confused, and wondered if Charlotte had mentioned him and Elizabeth during her stay. "You know me?"

Tia smirked, "you want to know me?" she asked, her hand resting on his collar.

Jack quickly intervened, "There'll be no knowing here. We've come for help and we're not leaving without it." Jack paused, looking at Tia, "I thought _I_ knew you," he said with feigned sadness.

"Not so well as I had hoped. Come," she replied shortly, heading back to her desk.

"Come," Jack repeated nodding to Will.

"What... service... may i do you? Hmm? You know I demand payment," she told Jack.

"I brought payment," Jack said with a smile. He whistled and Pintel placed the cage with Jack the Monkey on Tia's desk. "Look!' he said, eyes wide as he shot the monkey with his pistol. "An undead monkey. Top that!"

Tia considered the gift, before lifting the latch on the cage door and letting the monkey run free.

Charlotte heard Gibbs whine, "no! You have no idea how long it took us to catch that."

"The payment is fair," Tia declared, before sitting down, and nodding to Jack.

Jack produced the drawing of the key and placed it on the table in front of Tia. Charlotte noticed Tia's colour and demeanour change for a moment as she stared in front of her. Then, as though Charlotte eye's had been playing a trick on her, Tia returned back to normal. "We're looking for this. And what it goes to" Jack asked.

Tia looked at him skeptically, "The Compass you bartered from me. It cannot lead you to this?" she asked with disbelief.

Charlotte was intrigued by this piece of information. She had always assumed the Compass had come to Jack through a series of events. Not through bartering. Will's head immediately jerked up at the mention of Jack's compass.

"Maybe. Why?" Jack asked, beating around the question.

Tia's face lit up with glee, "Ayee... Jack Sparrow does not know what he want! Or... do know, but are loathe to claim it as your own?" Her eyes flitted from Jack to Charlotte and back to the Key. "Your key go to a chest. And it is what lay inside the chest you seek, don't it?"

Gibbs was the first to speak, "what is inside?"

Pintel began to guess, "Gold! Jewels? Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?"

Charlotte grinned and Ragetti muttered under his breath, "nothing bad, I hope." He looked positively frightened at the large jar of eyeballs hanging by his face.

"You know of... Davy Jones, yes?" Tia asked the group of pirates, who all nodded. "A man of the sea. A great sailor, until he ran afoul of that which vex all men."

Will couldn't hold his tongue, "what vexes all men?"

Charlotte had to stilfe a laugh. Someone in Will's position ought to know. He was currently on a hunt for a key to give to Jack in exchange for a compass to give to some unknown man who would in return release Elizabeth.

"What, indeed" Tia replied slyly.

"The sea?" Gibbs suggested.

"Sums!" cried Pintel.

"The dichotomy of good and evil," Ragetti suggested.

"You've been reading the Bible I see," Charlotte replied. She turned to Jack, who nodded and said, "a _woman._ " The pirates all turned to face Tia and Charlotte, who was leaning on Tia's chair. Charlotte rolled her eyes, "It was a specific woman. Not just any woman... otherwise we'd all be in trouble," she whispered that last part into Tia's ear, and the woman grinned. "A woman. He fell in love," Charlotte said for the pirates to hear. She'd studied the tale of Davy Jones for years, and knew a fair amount.

"No-no-no-no, I heard it was the sea he fell in love with," Gibbs responded, looking confused.

Tia's demeanour changed, "Same story, different versions, and all are true! See, it was a woman, as changing, and harsh, and untameable as the sea. Him never stopped loving her. But the pain it caused him was too much to live with. But not enough to cause him to die."

Charlotte watched as Will fought the urge to ask a question, "what... exactly did he put into the chest?"

"Him heart," Tia replied softly.

"Literally, or figuratively?" Ragetti asked.

Pintel gave Ragetti a skeptical look, "he couldn't literally put his heart in a chest!" he pause,d and turned to Tia, eyes wide "could he?"

Tia continued on with her story, "It was not worth feeling what... small fleeting joy life brings, and so... he carve out him heart, lock it away in a chest, and hide the chest from the world. The keys, he keep with him at all times."

Charlotte quickly turned to Jack. "You knew this!"

Jack raised his hands, "I did not. I didn't know where the key was. But now we do. So all that's left is to climb aboard the Flitting Dutchman, grab the key, and William can go back to Port Royal to save your bonnie lass."

Will and Charlotte exchanged looks of pure displeasure a the thought of going aboard the Dutchman. Tia, however, was fixated on Jack's hand.

"Let me see your hand," she asked Jack, leaning forward.

Jack stood by her desk and held his unwrapped hand forward for her to see. The rest of the crew leaned in too. Tia's had remained outstretched and Jack reluctantly gave her the wrapped one. When the Black Spot was revealed, the entire crew gasped.

"Uhh, the Black Spot!" Gibbs cried, before wiping his hands on his chest, spinning once to the left, and spitting.

"Black Spot!" cried Pintel and Ragetti in unison, before they copied Gibbs' ritual.

Jack turned to the three of them, "My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know."

Tia turned around and walked through a curtain of beads, before rummaging around, clearly looking for something. "I am... just my... where are you?" they heard her mutter.

While she was looking, Jack quickly picked up a ring from Tia's desk and slipped it onto his hand. Charlotte rolled her eyes as he admired the effect, but something else caught her eye. Beside the rings, was a silver heart-shaped locket with a face etched onto it. Will followed Charlotte's eyes and spotted it as well. She was just about to pick it up when Tia returned.

"Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow. And so you will carry land with you." She handed Jack a large jar filled with dirt.

Jack held it up, and looked at Tia, unconvinced "Dirt. This is a jar of dirt."

"Yes?" Tia responded, clearly not seeing Jack's problem with her solution.

"Is the... jar of dirt going to help?" he asked cynically.

"If you don't want it, give it back" Tia replied, her hands reaching for the jar.

"NO!" Jack cried, clutching the jar to his chest and pushing the other pirates in front of him.

"So it helps," Charlotte replied, giving Tia a nod. "It seems we have a need to find the Flying Dutchman," Charlotte asked Tia, who retuned to her desk.

She picked up several crab shells in her cupped hands and closed her eyes, murmuring a spell under her breath. "A touch... of destiny." She cast the crab shells back onto the desk, and the entire crew leaned forward to see how they fell.


	34. Chapter 34

Jack and the rest of the crew headed back to the Pearl, their destination in mind. Charlotte watched as the compass needle swung around and pointed somewhere to the northeast. "Do we have a heading, Jack?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yep," Jack said, as he headed to the help and slowly steered the ship away from Tia's island. He waited a few moments before asking Charlotte, "so when did you mean Tia Dalma?"

"I told you, I stayed with her for a few weeks when I was sailing with my crew," she replied looking at Jack curiously. "She told me quite a bit about you... and your past."

Jack smirked, "I'm surprised she gave that information to you so willingly. Normally, it takes a bit of coaxing and begging and a dash of leading to get your way with her."

"Yes, but you're forgetting one thing Jack," Charlotte said as she turned away from him to look out at the black sky. "I'm a woman."

Jack looked her body up and down and she could feel his eyes on her, "Yes. You are."

A loud cough was heard from behind them and Jack turned to see Will leaning against he railing behind the pair. "I may vomit."

"Oh, but it was completely fine when you and Elizabeth were frolicking around, making sad faces, and not-so-secretly- harbouring a desire for one another that was so obvious that the rest of the crew actually had to go and vomit," Charlotte replied with a raised eyebrow.

Will grinned, "I really did miss you. Elizabeth as well."

"Well, I can't wait to see her again. That is if they ever let me step foot on Port Royal after all I've done," Charlotte grimaced.

Will felt his stomach flip upside down as he thought of Port Royal, where Elizabeth was currently locked up. But while he was always thinking of Elizabeth, he thought of someone else as well: Beckett. He didn't know how to approach Charlotte with the circumstances of Beckett's offer, never mind telling her who was behind the arrangement. As he stood there, he watched Charlotte closely. He wasn't able to see it before, but there were certain similarities between the two, both physical and mental. They both had the same hard look on their face, the same nose, and the same air of intelligence and stubbornness. But while Beckett was pale (though this could have been due to the white powder and wig he was forced to wear), Charlotte had become considerably tanned living on Port Royal and even more so since becoming a pirate.

"Will?" siad Charlotte, as though she were standing from afar, "what are you thinking about?"

Will jumped from his thoughts, "oh-er... nothing."

Charlotte creased her eyebrows and gave him a suspicious look. "Oh," she said, sounding disbelieving.

He turned on his heel and marched down to the hammocks, and found the floor to be empty. He quickly claimed on as his own, and was left alone to his thoughts.

"Jack?" Charlotte asked, "what do you plan on doing once you get a hold of Davy Jones's heart?"

Jack quickly whipped his head around, his locs threatening to hit her in the face when he did so. "What? Who said anything about the heart- i mean, a heart?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow, and nodded. Jack sighed, "My dear, I am going to bargain with the man and make sure he does not return the Pearl- along with it's beloved captain- back to the depths."

There was a pause before Charlotte laughed hysterically. Tears spilled from her eyes and she began to mop them away, while trying to get out a few regulated breaths. Jack watched her, confused by the reaction. "I-can't-believe you think you're going to bargain with Davy Jones." She shook her head, "did you fall and hit your head on the deck?" she asked.

Jack shook his head and consider this, "I'm not sure. I may have at some point, but not in the recent past."

Charlotte approached him and gently wrapped her hands around his waist while he steered the ship."Are you sure that this plan of yours is going to work?" She asked, resting her head against his back.

Jack nodded, "don't my plans always work?"

Charlotte shook her head, "remember that time you came to Port Royal and tried to commandeer a ship? And you ended up getting into a fight at the blacksmiths? And you lost and ended up in a cell and were going to be hanged. And then you're mutinous crew came the very same night and looted the town and kidnapped my friend. and then-"

Jack raised a hand, "Alright, perhaps they don't always work out the way I planned, but they do work out, don't they? I mean, William was with ... ol' whats-her-face, and you and I were together. On the Pearl..." He turned around and wrapped his arms around her face, "and we have quite a bit of fun on the Pearl, didn't we?"

Charlotte smiled lightly, "we did. And that would be great right now, except we have this huge monster after us, and the most dangerous pirate and his ship after us as well."

Jack grinned maniacally, "you just said 'us.'"

"So?"

"They're after me, love. Not you. You'll be fine," Jack said with a slightly sad undertone.

Charlotte looked into Jack's eyes, "If it gets bad, I'm going out with you... you know that right?"

Jack nodded and gave her a small kiss, "I know that."

Just then, Marty shouted down from the crow's nest. "Destination's up ahead."

Through the lamplight the pair were able to make out several large rocky islands, whose positions matched the crab claws on Tia's desk. Just then, a storm began to rage, dousing everyone with rain. The thunder clapped loudly, and with each strike of lightning, they saw the outline of a scuttled ship, it's frame bashed against the side of the rocks.

Will appeared at their side, having heard the commotion. He turned to Gibbs, Charlotte, and Jack who were standing beside him, eyes trained firmly on the ship ahead of them. Charlotte's mind was moving a thousand miles per minute, that did NOT look like the Flying Dutchman... and if it didn't look like it... then it probably wasn't.

"That's the Flying Dutchman?" Will asked, sounding skeptical. "She doesn't look like much."

Jack sighed, "Neither do you. Do _not_ underestimate her." He gave Gibbs a meaningful glare, and elbowed the older man.

"Must've run afoul of the reef," Gibbs spewed, sounding thoroughly unconvincing to Charlotte.

Jack and Charlotte both rolled their eyes and turned back to Will, hoping he didn't hear Gibbs over the storm. "So what's your plan then?" he asked.

Will gritted his teeth, his anger at Jack beginning to bubble over the surface, "I row over, search the ship 'till I find your bloody key."

Charlotte nodded, "and if there are crewmen?" she asked.

"I cut down anyone in my path," he replied.

Jack nodded, grinning. "I like it. Simple and east to remember."

From behind them, Ragetti yelled into the storm, "Your chariot awaits you, sire!" he laughed as he and Pintel gloated at Will's form folding itself into the longboat.

"Hey!" Jack yelled, running over to the boat before Will lowered it. "If you do happen to get captured, just say Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his debt! Might save your life!"

"Bon Voyage!" Rageait yelled, with a laugh as Will rowed himself away.

Under her breath Charlotte whispered "good luck," before telling Gibbs to douse the lamps, throwing the ship into the darkness.

From the boat, Will could see the lights slowly going off as he rowed to the broken ship behind him. In a few moments, he found himself standing on the splintered deck, looking at the few beaten sailors attempting to move the ship back to the sea.

"... up the..." muttered one sailor, blood covering his face. He looked starved in appearance and was attempting to pull the pulley.

"Sailor!" Will cried, approaching the man with concern.

"... the stench... capsized" the wounded sailor muttered.

"Sailor!" Will cried again.

"...bring a..." the sailor mumbled to the relatively empty deck.

"There's no use. You've run aground," Will spoke softly.

"No!" shouted the man hoarsely. "Beneath us! Foul breath!" His eyes wandered past Will, looking around wildly.

Suddenly Will jumped, a thud echoing from behind him. He turned around and saw a body lying on the ship, partially submerged in the water that was filling the deck. Will turned towards it, and approached the body. "Hey! Hey!" he yelled as the man moved slightly. Will grasped the man by the shoulders, and turned him over so he was lying on his stomach. He recoiled at the sight of the man's face- it was gone! Where the man's facial features once were, was a puckered, pulsing piece of skin. Will jumped away, and looked out into the still waters.

Then it happened.

Something was stirring under the surface of the water. Suddenly, a erupted from the water, close to the scuttled ship. Will stepped back as footsteps approached him from all around. He quickly unsheathed his sword and looked around him. From the darkness, crewmen covered in all manner of sea creatures began to attack those aboard the small ship.

"Down on your marrowbones, and pray!" cried one of the sea-encrusted crew. He had an axe embedded in his skull and was covered in seaweed and urchins. He held a spine rather than a sword and engaged Will in a sword fight. The other invaders joined in.

Will turned and spotted a barrel, filled to the brim with oil. He quickly dipped his sword in the bucket before smashing it into a lantern that hung from the mast, his sword aflame.

He turned back to the invading crew and waved it in front of him."Get back! Back!" One of them approached Will, sword raised, and Will swiftly sliced the man's stomach open. Fish spilled out of the cut and onto the deck.

From behind, one of the invaders smashed something against Will's skull, causing him to fall to the deck unconscious.


	35. Chapter 35

The pirates of the scuttled ship were taken onto the Dutchman as prisoners. Each of them was force onto their knees before the cursed ship's captain. Behind each of them was a member of the Dutchman's crew, holding some sort of sea-related weapon to the throats of their charge. At the end of the line was Will, who'd come around in time to hear the steps of the Captain as he descended onto the deck of the ship. The moment Will laid his eyes on Davy Jones, he had to resist the urge to vomit.

Davy Jones's dark eyes stared out from behind a long beard of octopus tentacles that moved and curled with a life of their own. He had a claw for a left hand and the fingers on his right extended out in rough tentacles that wrapped around a ivory cane. Atop his head sat a black hat that resembled devil horns, and one of his legs was nothing but a whalebone. He cast a glare at the men in front of him before turning to Maccus.

"Five men still alive. The rest have moved on," Maccus explained.

Jones casually lit a pipe before bending down to look at the first crewman before him. "Do you fear death?" he asked the man, who looked down at the ground and was shaking- though this could be due to two things; the prospect of death, or the face of Davy Jones. The Captain attributed this to the former. "Do you fear that dark abyss? All you deeds laid bare. All your sins punished. I can offer you an escape."

One of the other men who was hiding a rosary quickly yelled out, "don't listen to him!"

Jones walked over to the chaplain and took the man's head in his claw, squeezing on his throat. "Do you not fear death?"

"I'll take my chances, Sir" the Chaplain replied, looking Jones in the eyes.

The Captian grinned, "to the depths." He released his grip on the man and moved aside as Maccus and another crew member quickly disposed of the chaplain, slitting his throat and tossing him over the edge and into the roaring waters.

"Cold blooded," muttered one of the crewmen in the line, causing Jones to growl.

"Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different?" He turned back tot he first man, who was still cowering in place. "I offer you a choice. Join my crew, and postpone the judgement. One hundred years before the mast. Will ye serve?"

"I-I will serve," said the man.

Jones grinned, pleased before spotting Will. He quickly stomped over before looking Will over. "You are neither dead nor dying. What is your purpose here?" he asked angrily.

Will looked around before muttering, "Jack Sparrow sent me to settle his debt."

Jones' eyes opened in shock as he repeated his question, "What is your purpose here?"

Will paused before looking at Jones and delivering his answer clearly. "Jack Sparrow sent me to settle his debt."

Jones quickly rightened himself, his beard curling in anger. "Huh! Did he, now?" He paused, "I'm sorely tempted to accept that offer." He quickly turned and looked out in the darkness, where the Pearl was cloaked in darkness.

Jack watched through a spyglass, watching the exchange between Will and Jones. He grinned before pointing the spyglass back at Jones, who turned towards him, smiling.

Jack quickly lowered the spyglass and Jones was standing before him. Charlotte, who was standing by Jack's side quickly pulled out her sword and pointed it at Jones's throat. Gibbs, Cotton, and the rest of the crew were about to scurry away when the rest of the Dutchman's crew emerged from the woodwork (literally) and held them hostage.

"Oh," Jack said, looking at the disgusting man in front of him.

Davy Jones smirked, as he knocked Charlotte's sword aside and moved towards Jack. "You have a debt to pay. You've been Captain of the Black Pearl for thirteen years. That was our agreement."

Jack paused, "Technically, I was captain for two years, then I was viciously mutinied upon."

"Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless! Have you not introduced yourself all these years as Captain Jack Sparrow?" He replied in a mocking voice, causing his crewmen to laugh.

"He's not wrong," Charlotte whispered into Jack's ear as she returned by his side, her hand resting on one of the small knives strapped to her waist.

Jack ignored her. "You have my payment. One soul to serve on your ship. He's already over there."

Davy Jones frowned, "One soul is not equal to another!" he growled.

Charlotte watched as Jack paused unsure of what to say. "So, we've established that Jack's proposal is sound in principal. Now you're just haggling over price."

Jones grinned at Charlotte, raising a hand to touch her cheek. She moved back slightly, and Jone turned back to Jack. "Price? Ptt!"

"Just how many souls do you think my soul is worth?" Jack asked, curiously as he moved slightly in front of Charlotte.

"One hundred souls," Jones replied. "Three days."

Jack folded his hands in gratitude, and Charlotte move out from behind Jack and spoke. "Send us back the man, and we'll get started right away."

Jones grinned and attempted to grab Charlotte's waist with his clawed hand. "I keep the boy. A good faith payment. That leaves you with only ninety nine more to go!" He laughed.

Jack nodded to Jones. "Have you not met Will Turner? He's noble, heroic, terrific soprano. Worth at least four... maybe three and a half" he added as an afterthought."And did I happen to mention... he's in love. with a girl. Due to be married. Betrothed. Dividing him from her and her from him... would only be half as cruel as actually allowing them to be joined in holy matrimony. Aye?"

"I keep the boy. Ninety nine more souls to go. But I wonder, Sparrow, can you live with this? Can you condemn an innocent man- friends," he looked back at Jack, "-to a lifetime of servitude in your name, while you roam free?"

Jack's eyes narrowed for a second as he thought about Jones's words. Charlotte nodded and Jack quickly piped up. "Yep! I'm good with it. Should we seal it in blood? I mean... ink?"

Jones leant forward and grasped Jack's hand in his tentacled hand, resulting in a squishy sound that caused Charlotte to wince and Jack to gag. "Uh!" Jack groaned as Jones ripped his hand from Jack's.

"Three days. Three days" Jones echoed as he and his crew vanished into thin air.

Jack looked at his hand and noticed that it was covered in green slime, but the black spot disappeared under the effect of the sludge. He looked up at the deck where Jones was standing a second ago. "Oh, Mr. Gibbs," Jack said as Gibbs approached him.

"Aye."

"I feel sullied and unusual," Jack replied.

"And how do you intend to harvest these ninety eight souls in three days?" Charlotte asked.

"Fortunately, he was mum as the condition in which these souls need be," Jack replied with a mischievous grin.

"Tortuga," Charlotte and Gibbs replied.

"Tortuga," Jack replied, wiping his hand on Gibbs's vest, before turning to Charlotte who back away, still looking at his hand.

"No. Absolutely not. You're going to have to bathe in every ocean before I touch you," she spun on her heel and marched away, leaving Jack to stand on the deck- alone.


	36. Chapter 36

The Black Pearl cut its path through the seas towards Tortuga. They'd managed to reach the Pirate-port in less than a day. The tired crew stumbled off the gang-plank and onto the solid ground. Jack felt relieved, knowing that he was out of Jones's reach. Immediately, he placed a hand on Charlotte's waist and steered her towards the tavern he'd taken her and Will to the last time they'd been.

"We might even get some time to ourselves," Jack muttered as he looked at the drunken men stumbling round the port.

Charlotte gave him a quizzical look, "you've changed." Jack turned back to her, an eyebrow raised skeptically. "I don't know what it is, but I don't like it. The Jack I know wouldn't even consider grabbing pirates and sending them to work off his debt for Jones. He'd find a way out of this, some sort of scheme."

Jack considered her words, "I don't know what you mean." He let go of Charlotte and headed towards the Tavern, his mind puzzled with the evidence Charlotte had presented him with.

Gibbs fell in step with Charlotte, "what do you feel, Miss Vaughan?"

Charlotte shook her head, "I don't know... but it's nothing nice." She sped up and headed into the Tavern as well, looking for a drink and a quiet space for her to think about how to save both Will and Jack. She quickly found a small booth at the back of the Tavern and grabbed a drink, burying herself in her thoughts. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a small sailor, with longish blonde hair moving throughout the crowd, keeping an eye on Jack and the crew of the Pearl when they wandered in. Charlotte kept a finger by her gun as she watched the sailor's every movement.

She waited a few hours as Gibbs, Jack, and the rest of the crew set a table aside and began to interview people. At first, many of the drunkards hadn't the slightest clue what they were signing up for until Jack said they were looking to expand the crew. This not only caused a huge crowd to emerge, but it also earned Jack the silent treatment from Charlotte as Gibbs continued interviewing the odd man who wandered towards them.

"And what makes you think you're worthy to crew the Black Pearl?" Gibbs asked a worn-down old man.

"Truth be told, I never sailed a day in me life. I figure I should get out and see the world while I'm still young," he replied hopefully.

"You'll do. Make your mark. Next!" Gibbs yelled.

"My wife ran off with my dog. And I'm drunk for a month. And I don't give a ass rat's if I live or die."

Gibbs and Jack exchanged looks before Gibbs spoke, "Perfect! Next!"

A one-armed sailor emerged from the throng of people, and spoke dully "Me have one arm, 'n' a bum leg."

"it's the crow's nest for you," Gibbs replied, waving the man aside.

Jack was sitting behind Gibbs, his compass out, needle spinning wildly, occasionally pointing towards Charlotte in the corner of the tavern."I know what I want... I know what I want..." he muttered, opening and closing the lid of the compass.

"Ever since I was a little lad, i've always wanted to sail the seas. Forever," another man finished off, staring wistfully at the bar behind Gibbs.

"Sooner than you think. Sign the roster," Gibbs replied.

"How are we going?" Jack asked, fed up of watching the needle spin round and round the compass.

Gibbs held his tongue, "Including those for? That gives us... four!" He turned back to the next man, "and what's your story?"

The man took a swig of his drink before replying, and both Jack and Gibbs took in the tattered Naval uniform. "My story... it's exactly the same as your story, just one chapter behind. I chased a man across the Seven seas. The pursuit cost me my crew, my commission, and my life."

Charlotte popped out of the corner and joined Gibbs and Jack by the table as they stared at the man in shock. "Commodore?" Charlotte asked.

"No, not anymore, weren't you listening?" He replied angrily. "I nearly had you all off Tripoli. I would have, if not for the ... hurricane."

Charlotte, Jack, and Gibbs stared at Norrington in shock as they remembered the strength of the storm that night. Gibbs was the first to recover. " didn't try to sail through it?"

"So do I make your crew, or not? You haven;t said where you're going. Somewhere nice!" He yelled smashing the bottle onto the ground, causing the women to scream and the men to sober up quickly.

The accordion stopped playing and everyone was on edge. Jack began to tiptoe away from Gibbs and Charlotte, using a leaf from a large plant to block himself from view.

"So am I worthy to serve under Captain Jack Sparrow?" Norrington asked, making a grand statement to the entire tavern. He spotted Jack sneaking off and quickly drew a pistol, placing it at Jack's head. "Or should I just kill you now?" Norrington asked.

Gibbs looked at Charlotte, who's hand was resting on her pistol. "Are you not going to...?" he asked.

Charlotte shook her head, a look of distaste plastered across her face. "He dug his grave himself."

Jack looked at the pistol and them back at Norrington, "You're hired."

Norrington clicked the pistol, his finger on the trigger, "Sorry. Old habits and all that."

Charlotte sighed before crossing the floor and bending Norrington's other arm back, almost until it cracked. Norrington fired the weapon into the air, and it hit a man's bottle as he drank from it. The man turned to the pirate sitting next to him and punched him across the face.

Suddenly a brawl broke out and the crew of the Pearl began to filter their way out of the tavern. "Time to go," Charlotte said, grabbing Jack and forcefully pushing him through the tavern to the door.

As they walked by, Jack began taking hats from other men's hands and began to try them on, clearly looking for his own. They stopped a few time,s as two men threw another over the banner and onto the floor below, where Norrington was yelling drunkenly, sword drawn. "Come on men! Who want some? Form an orderly line, I'll have you all one by one. Come on, who's first?"

From behind him, Elizabeth grabbed the bottle Norrington was clutching and smashed it over his head, watching as he fell to the floor. Everyone fell silent and looked at the Elizabeth. "I just wanted the pleasure of doing that myself!"

The crowd cheered and held their mugs up in a toast. A group of men picked Norrington up and tossed him into the mud with the pigs, leaving him to rot. Elizabeth appeared, turning Norrington over, "James Norrington" she sighed, remembering the last time she'd sen the man,wearing heady medals and the finest clothing. "What has the world done to you?"

"What has the world done to you?" said Charlotte, from behind the pair.

Elizabeth turned around, dropping Norrington back into the mud, and wrapping her arms around her.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked at the same time.

"It's a long story... what about you?" Charlotte replied, steering Elizabeth towards a quieter part of the tavern, where part of the crew were standing.

"Will made a deal to get me out of prison, but my father helped me escape. You haven't seen Will have you?" Elizabeth asked, opened her mouth to respond but Elizabeth kept talking. "Beckett's going to be furious with him."

Charlotte's eyes widened, "Beckett?"

"Yes, your brother is the one who needs Will to get the compass for him. Didn't Will tell you that?" she asked.

Charlotte's eyes narrowed. "No..." her voice trailed off, as she thought of how angry she'd been with Jack for abandoning Will. That anger was now gone, "he didn't tell me a thing."


	37. Chapter 38

After their small discussion, the pair returned to Norringotn's side (Charlotte doing so reclutantly), and helped the poor man up, before Charlotte led the pair down to the docks, where the Pearl was perched, waiting for its destination.

As they were about to climb the plank, Jack stepped in front of the trio, "Charlotte, I know you…" he looked past her shoulder and to the pair behind her (Elizabeth was still unrecognizable, in her pirate's garb).

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth said, her eyes finally landing on the man who had cuased her and her fiancé so much trouble.

Jack peered into her face and shook his head, "Come to join my crew, lad?" he asked. Elizabeth raised her eyebrow at Charlotte, who smirked while Jack continued. " Well enough, come aboard," he stepped out of the way.

Elizabeth turned to Jack, annoyed. "I've come to find the man I love."

Jack nodded, his grin faltering slightly, still not aware that the sailor in front of him was Elizabeth. Behind his shoulder, Charlotte suppressed a laugh. "I'm deeply flattered son, but my first and only love in the sea" replied Jack.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Meaning William Turner, Captain Sparrow" she clarified stiffly.

Jack's smile slid off his face entirely, as he drew closer. "Elizabeth?" He took a few steps back. "You know, those clothes do not flatter you at all," he said warily.

Elizabeth and Charlotte exchanged looks before she turned back to Jack. "I know Will set out to find you. Where is he?"

Charlotte wanted to leave that pleasure for Jack, and also turned to watch how the Captain responded. "Darling," Jack began "I am truly unhappy to have to tell you this, but through an unfortunate and entirely unforeseeable series of circumstances that have nothing whatsoever to do with me… poor Will was press-ganged intoDavy Jones's crew."

Charlotte's eyes bulged out of her head, and she made to interject, but Jack quickly elbowed her in the stomach to get her to shut up.

"Davy Jones," Elizabeth repeated, looking between the pair, unsure if she should believe them.

Charlotte nodded, while Jack merely looked at Elizabeth to determine whether she'd bought the story.

From beside her, Norrington laughed. "Oh, please. The captain of the Flying Dutchman? A ship that ferries those who died at sea from this world to the next….." he turned to Elizabeth, as though to say "You actually believe this?"

"Bang on!" Jack exclaimed, before looking at Norrington. "You look bloody awful, mate. What are you doing here?"

"You hired me," Norrington replied dully. "I can't help that your standards are lax."

"Jack," Elizabeth said, diverting his attention back to her, "all I want is to find Will."

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, as he eyed the woman. "Are you certain? Is that what you really want….most?"

"Of course," Elizabeth replied dutifully, as she saw a gleam appear in Jack's eye.

Charlotte intervened, "I thought you'd want to find a way to save Will, most. Fat lot of good it'll do us if you just take us to the Dutchman. We'd all be slaughtered. But if we find a solution to get Will off the blasted ship…. You two could be together again."

Jack nodded, "the lady is on to something here."

"No doubt," Norrington scoffed.

"And you both have a way to do that?" Elizabeth asked the pair, who nodded.

"Well," Jack began, "there is a chest…"

"Of unknown size and origin," Charlotte added.

"What contains the still-beating heart of Davy Jones" Pintel interjected as he and Ragetti passed, carrying a barrel onto the Pearl.

"Thump, THUMP!" Ragetti added, his fist clenching and releasing like the organ.

Ignoring the pair, Jack continued, "And whoever possesses that chest possesses the leverage to command jones to do whatever it is he… or she" he gestured to Elizabeth "wants. Including saving our brave William from his grim fate."

"How can we find it," Elizabeth asked flatly. She was tired of the long and winded tales of persuasion. She just wanted Will back as soon as possible.

Jack fiddled with something on his waist before producing his compass, placing it in Elizabeth's hand. "With this. This compass is unique."

"Unique here having the meaning of 'broken'"? Norrington asked, eyeing Jack distastefully.

Jack tilted his head, "True enough, this compass does not point North," he began.

"It points to the thing you want most in this world," Charlotte finished, having seen the truth of the compass a year ago.

Elizabeth, still skeptical asked, "Jack are you telling the truth?"

"Every word. What do you want most in the world is to find the chest of Davy Jones, is it not?"

Elizabeth nodded, "to save Will."

Jack opened the lid of the compass, "by finding the chest of Davy Jones," she emphasized.

The pair backed away as the needle swung around randomly. Suddenly, it stilled pointing to the East.

Jack, grinning wildly, turned to Gibbs. "We have our heading!" he shouted.

While the others were finally on their way to find the chest, Will furthered himself through the Flying Dutchman, searching for Jack's blasted key when he could. HE needed to keep his actions minimal, for fear of detection. The mutant pirates, in spite of being half-dead, were incredibly suspicious and sharp of newcomers, likely due to the lack of disfigurement. Will was forced to do more manual labour in one day then Jack had ever made him do on their last voyage to save Elizabeth. He wiped the sweat off his brow and continued to pull at the rope, lifting the cannon up to the top of the mast. "Heave! Heave! Heave!" the crew chanted as they raised it higher and higher.

Standing atop the deck, manning the wheel, one of Jones's henchman barked loudly. "Secure the mast, Mr. Turner!"

Will quickly stepped aside and headed to the top of the deck, he grabbed ahold of the rope. Suddenly, another pair of decrepit hands covered his. He looked up into the face of an older pirate, who had all sorts of sea creatures encrusted in the side of his head. "Step aside!" Will yelled over the other pirates.

"Mind yourself!" the pirate yelled back. Will, frustrated held the rope tighter as the pirate attempted to wrench in out of his hand. "Let go boy!" the man finally yelled in Will's face. A look of shock and horror rippled across his features as he muttered, "no."

The pair, too distracted by each other, lessened their grips on the rope and the cannon smashed to the deck, knocking several of the pirates off of their feet. Will was thrown to the side, his hands loosely wrapped around the rope.

The bo'sun quickly appeared and pointed to Will, "Haul that weasel to his feet!" he ordered. Will felt a pair of hands under his arms, and was dragged to his feet, made to hold the ropes on the sail. "Five from the lash'll remind you to stay on 'em," the bo'sun declared, walking towards Will. But before he could take a swing, the old pirate reached out and grabbed the Bo'suns wrist. "Imeding me in my duties!" the Bo'sun snarled. "You'll share the punishment!"

"I'll take it all," the older pirate told him.

"Will you, now" DavyJones asked. He'd stopped playing the organ, and was currently observing the situation carefully. "And what would prompt such an act of charity?" he spat.

The old pirate lifted a barnacled hand, motioning towards Will. "My son. That's my son."

Jones grinned as Will looked around wildly, his eyes widening at the sight of his father, who was supposed to be at the bottom of the ocean, dead with a cannon strapped to his bootstraps. "What fortuitous circumstance be this?" Jones roared, slapping the knee on his one remaining limb. "You wish to spare your son the Bo'sun's discipline?"

"Aye," Bootstrap answered.

Jones nodded, before turning to the bo'sun. "Give your lash to Mr. Turner. The elder," he ordered.

Bootstrap Bill protested as the Bo'sun who retreated into the crowd of onlookers forced the lash into his hand. Being forced to lash your own son was the worst possible punishment.

"The cat's out of the bag, Mr. Turner!" Jones roared into Bootstrap's ear. The crew cowered. "Your issue will taste its sting, be it by the Bo'sun's hand… or your own!"

The Bo'sun went to take back the lash, but Bootstrap pushed him away. He raised the lash to Will, and struck him five times.

Will staggered down to the hld that night, his shirt torn to shreds at the back. Bootstrap, who'd been following him closely, trailed behind. "The Bo'sun prides himself on cleaving flesh from bone with every swing." He explained, helping Will sit on a nearby bench.

Will stared at his father in horror. He couldn't believe that after all these years his father was standing before him, albeit a little bit worse for wear. "So I'm to understand what you did was an act of compassion?" he asked.

Bootstrap paused, "Yes."

"Then I guess I am my father's son. For nearly a year I've been telling myself that I killed you to save you."

"You killed me?" Bootstrap replied.

"I lifted the curse you were under knowing it would mean your death. But, at least, you would no longer suffer the fate handed to you by Barbossa."

"Who is Barbossa?" Bootstrap asked blankly.

Will furrowed his brow, "Captain Barbossa" he repeated, wondering how his father had forgotten the name of the man who had led him to be cursed. "The man who led the mutiny aboard the Black Pearl? The one who left you to live forever at the bottom of the ocean."

"Oh, of course" Bootstrap said, nodding, his eyes slightly misted. "It's the gift and the lie given by Jones," he told his son. "You join the crew and think you've cheated the powers, but its not reprieval you've found. It's oblivion. Losing who you were, bit by bit, till you end up like old Wyvern here."

Will followed his father's eyes and looked behind him, where he spotted something that looked like a carving of an old sailor, his body embedded into the ships hull.

Bootstrap sighed heavily, "Once you've sworn an oath to the Dutchman, there's no leaving it. Not till your debt is paid. By then, you're not just on the ship, but part of it. Why did you do it, Will?" he asked his son.

Will shook his head, "I've sworn no oath."

Bootstrap's face brightened at Will's words, "Then you must get away."

Will wished it had been that easy, but merely dug around in his pocket, producing the piece of cloth Jack had given him. "Not until I find this," he unfolded it and showed the image to his father. "It's supposed to be on the ship. Jack wanted it: maybe it is a way out."

Suddenly, old Wyvern moved, pulling himself free from the hold of the hull's wood. "The Dead Man's Chest!" he moaned, his arms reaching for the cloth.

Will jumped back as the wooden creature, who had torn himself away from the body of the ship opened his mouth and wailed. Will blanched, as he realized this was his father's destiny should he remain on the ship. His hope began to disappear, when Wyvren spoke once more.

"Open the chest with the key, and stab the heart," Wyvern cried. "No," he said suddenly, "don't stab the heart!" Changing his mind, "the Dutchman must have a living heart or there is no Captian. And if there is no captain, then there is no one to have the key!"

"The captain has the key?" Will asked, confused by Wyvern's ravings.

"Hidden," was all Wyvern said as he withdrew once more, becoming part of the ship's hull.

But will had his answer, and that was half of what he needed.

The key was with Jones.

Will stood suddenly, jarring Bootstrap, and made for the deck of the ship.


	38. Chapter 39

On the Black Pearl, Elizabeth and Charlotte were sitting on the deck peering at the Letters of Marque, which were still blank. "What do you think I ought to do?" Elizabeth asked, looking at Charlotte.

"Throw them overboard and curse Cutler to hell," Charlotte replied forcefully.

Elizabeth bit her lip, "why exactly don't you-?"

"I don't want to talk about it. For now, keep those out of my sight before I burn them," Charlotte said, gazing down at the Beckett crest embossed on the paper. She stood up quickly and headed below the deck.

Elizabeth paused before picking up a quill and ink, filling in the names on the letters. Just then, Jack popped up behind her, snatching them away. He scanned them over, "These Letters of Marque are supposed to go to me, are they not?" He looked down and spotted Cutler Beckett's name at the bottom of the parchment. A wave of disgust rushed over him, "Lord Cutler Beckett. He's the man who wants my compass?"

Elizabeth hesitated; knowing the relationship between Jack and Charlotte meant he knew all about what had happened between the two siblings. "Not the Compass, a chest."

The words caught Gibb's attention, "A chest?" he asked, looking between the two. "Not the chest of Davy Jones? If the East India Trading Company controls the chest, they control the sea," he exclaimed.

Elizabeth's ears perked up as Gibbs finished. Control of the sea. That's why Beckett was so eager to get ahold of the chest. His end-game had nothing to do with Jack. She quickly turned her attention back to the conversation.

"A discomforting notion," Jack said, nodding to Gibbs. He turned to Elizabeth, "May I inquire as to how you came by these?"

She paused, "Persuasion."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Friendly?" he asked, grinning.

"Decidedly not," she snapped, ignoring Jack's flirting, knowing Charlotte wouldn't take too kindly to her playing along.

Jack scowled as he scanned through the rest of the documents, "Full pardon?" he muttered. "Commission as a privateer on behalf of England and the East India Trading Company. As if I could be bought." He shook his head and shoved the letters into his jacket pocket. "Not for this low of a price. Fate worse than death, living a life like that -especially under Beckett."

"Jack," Elizabeth said, holding out her hand. "The Letters. Give them back."

He grinned, leaning forward, "persuade me."

Elizabeth hesitated and then turned her back to Jack, who was patting the letters in his pocket. On the other side of the deck, Norrington scowled as he scrubbed the deck, listening into the conversation. As Elizabeth passed him, he noticed a small smile playing on her face.

"It's a curious thing," Norrington began, causing her to stop in her tracks. "There was a time when I'd have given anything for you to look like that while thinking of me."

She stiffened at the suggestion, "I don't know what you mean."

"I think you do," Norrington replied.

"Don't be absurd. I trust him, that's all."

"Ah," Norrington finished, grabbing the mop and bucket, and moving around her. He stopped and leant in, "Charlotte will be so pleased for you two." He straightened up and walked off, leaving Elizabeth to her thoughts. But before she left he turned back, "Did you even wonder how your fiancé ended up on the Flying Dutchman in the first place?"

Back on the Dutchman, Will had made his way to the deck. A game of Liar's Dice was being played by a few of the crew. He leaned against a nearby post and watched the pirates intently, following along.

" I wager ten years!" Maccus said hotly.

Another crewman matched the ten years, and the game was on. Each man bid a number, then Maccus peeked at the dice under his cup. "Four fives," he said firmly.

"Liar!" called another crewman in the game. Maccus cursed, revealing his dice. The pirate only had three fives.

"What are they playing for?" Will asked Bootstrap, who had come to stand beside him.

"The only thing any of us has," Bootstrap replied dully. "Years of service."

Will paused, "And any member of the crew can be challenged?" he asked.

"Aye," Bootstrap replied.

Will stepped forward, "I challenge Davy Jones."

The crew went silent as Jones suddenly appeared on the deck. "Accepted," he said, eyeing Will carefully. "But I only bet for what's dearest to a man's heart."

"I wager a hundred years of service," Will replied boldly.

"No!" cried Bootstrap from behind his son, his eyes wide.

"Against your freedom?" Jones asked.

'My father's freedom," Will thought he had no need to wager against his own freedom, still operating under the assumption that he was already free, blind to the fact Jack had been bargaining with his soul.

"Agreed," Jones answered, as he drew out a chair and took a seat at the table, across from Will. "You are a desperate man," Jones remarked. "You are the one who hopes to be married. But your fate is to be married to this ship."

"I choose my own fate," Will replied.

"Then it wouldn't be fate, would it?" Jones replied. "Five threes."

Will drew a breath, "Five sixes."

"Jones looked into his eyes, "Liar!"

Will revealed his dice, and to the crew's shock, he had five sixes. Jones looked up, grinning, "Well done, Master Turner," Jones said, standing up.  
While he had set his father free, Will wasn't done playing yet. "Another game," he asked suddenly.

The crew gasped, as Jones turned to look at Will over his shoulder. "You cant best the devil twice, son," he said, cautioning him.

Will smiled knowingly, "Then why are you walking away?"

Jones's beard curled wildly, he didn't like to be goaded. He turned back and sat at the table once more. "The stakes?"

"I wager my soul," Will answered. "An eternity of servitude."

"Against?" Jones asked.

"What was it you said about that which is dearest to a man's heart?" Will asked, presenting the cloth with the key on it. "I want this."

Jones heaved his head, "how do you know of the key?" he snarled.

"That's not part of the game, is it?" Will replied.

Jones scoweled as one of his tentacles drew inward, raching into his shirt, and pulled out the key. It was hung from a chain around Jones's neck. That's all Will needed to see. He now knew where the key was hidden, and he tried not to show his satisfaction. He slammed his cup down along with Jones's, when out of nowhere, another cup suddenly slammed alongside his own.

Will looked to his right, and spotted his father, sitting down. "I'm matching his wager," he said to Jones. "An eternity in servitude." Not waiting for permission, he began a new game, "I bit three twos," he said, looking at his dice under the cup.

"Don't do this," Will begged.

Too much was at stake now. Will had just freed his father, but if he lost, he would join Jones's crew, but at least his father would have been free. But if Bootstrap lost, then he would be bound once more to the ship, while Will went free.

"The die's been cast, Will. Your bid, captain" Bootstrap replied, ignoring his son's pleas.

Davy Jones checked his dice," Four threes."

"Five threes," Will said reluctantly.

"Seven fives," Jones told them.

Will couldn't go any higher, "eight fives," he bluffed.

"Welcome to the crew lad," Jones smiled, knowing full well that Will was lying.

"Twelve fives," Bootstrap yelled suddenly. Jones glowered at him, but Bootstrap remained steady. "Call me a liar or up the bid."

Jones slipped the key back into his shirt. "Bootstrap Bill, you are a liar, and you will spend an eternity on this ship." He stood up and turned to Will, "William Turner… feel free to go ashore… the very next time we make port." Jones laughed and moved back down to his cabin.

"You fool! Why did you do that?" Will asked furiously.

Bootstrap dropped his tired head and said, "I couldn't let you lose."

Will sighed, "It was never about winning or loosing."

Bootstrap stared at him for a moment, before he suddenly understood. It was about finding the key. And Will had, at least, done that.

Later that night, the merchant ship, the Edinburgh Trader, appeared on the horizon near the Dutchman. Grabbing Will, Bootstrap went to the railing and quietly pointed the Trader out to Will. "It's your chance," he whispered.

Will nodded, but before he could get on the passing ship, he needed the key. He moved off to the captain's quarters, and quietly slipped inside. Jones was asleep, his upper body sprawled across the organ. Will was about to move closer when a tentacle suddenly hit a key. The noise echoed through the cabin (and the ship), but the sleeping captian didn't stir. Will held his breath and crept up beside the organ. He grabbed the knife, and used it to lift one tentacle up. Under neahc, behind two more, was the key, glittering away. He grabbed a quill, with his free hand and used them to move another tentacle away. He managed to lift it by placing the quill in his mouth. With his free hand, he reached into Jones's beard and worked it off the key. Just as he freed it, a tentacle grabbed the key, and tried to pull it back to its chain. Will looked down at the cloth that he had clutched in his hand, and rolled it up, before placing the cloth in the tentacle's grip. He let the other two tentacles hand down, and crept out of the room.

He headed back up to the deck, where Bootstrap was waiting for him. "Is she still there?" he asked, his eyes searching the dark horizon.

Bootstrap had readied a longboat for Will. "Aye, but the moment is slipping away."

Will's head ached to leave his father behind. He climbed over the side of the Dutchman. "Come with me," he pleaded.

"I can't. I'm part of the ship now, Will. I can't leave." He paused and dug around his pocket, before pulling a black knife from his belt. "Always meant for you to have it…" he said, handing it to Will.

Will smiled, "I will see you free of this prison- I promise you."

Will slipped onto the longboat and disappeared on the dark waters of the night.

The next morning, a large crewman arrived to take Bootstrap's place on watch. He found the old pirate asleep and kicked him hard. "Show a leg before the captain spots you."

Suddenly the crewman's eyes fell on the white sails of the Edinburgh Trader. "All hands!" he yelled. "Ship at quarter stern."

Davy Jones came on deck and looked out to sea. "Who stood watch last night?" he asked the crewmen who had gathered by the railing.

They pushed Bootstrap forward. "How is it, Bootstrap, that you let a ship pass by, unnoticed?" Jones asked.

"Beggin' your mercy, Captain. I fell sound asleep. Beggin' your mercy, it wont happen again!" Bootstrap cried.

"Bring the son," Jones ordered.

"He's not onboard sir," one of the crewmen said. "One of the longboats is missing."

"Jones immediately understood. He met Bootstrap's eye and watched the pirate's face grow pale. Jones pulled the chain out from his shirt. The key was gone. There was only one person tricky enough to be behind all this. "JACK SPARROW!" he shouted. "CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW!"


	39. Chapter 40

In the meantime, Will had rowed himself over to the Edinburgh Trader, and was quickly spotted by one of the sailors.

"Cast a line!" he shouted to those on deck. "There's a man in the sea."

Will waited patiently, when a line was thrown down into the longboat. Wrapping his hands around it, he hauled himself up the hull of the ship, the guilt of leaving his father weighing heavily in his stomach and mind.

Shivering, the crewmen led him to the doors of the captain's quarters.

The man who'd spotted him rapped hard on the glass panels of the door. "Captain Bellamy, come quick!"

There was a loud scrap of a chair against wood, and a few steps before the doors swung open. "Crowley, you'd better not be- oh!" Bellamy cried, as he spotted Will in front of him. "Who is this?"

"A man," the sailor called Crowley said. "We spotted him in a longboat. He's freezing."

Bellamy nodded and ushered Will inside, as one of the other sailors produced a couple of blankets.

Will took them gratefully, as he wrapped them around himself. He sat down in the spare chair and felt someone place a warm cup of tea in his hand. He nodded in thanks and gulped it down, where it swirled in his stomach, warming his insides.

He looked around the room, and found that he'd been left alone with the captain.

As he tried to thaw out, Bellamy tried to make sense of Will's circumstances. "Strange thing, to come across a longboat so far out in the sea," he marveled.

Will nodded. "Just put as many leagues behind us as you can, as fast as you can." He took another sip of his drink before his eyes fell on Elizabeth's wedding dress, thrown casually over a chair in the corner of the room.

"That dress. Where did you get it?" Will asked, as he stood up, placing his cup on the desk, and walking over to the dress.

"Funny, that dress" Captain Bellamy said. "Found it aboard the ship. Put quite a stir into the crew, thought it was a spirit, bringing an omen of ill-fate." He sat down in his chair, at the desk, watching Will examine the dress with interest. "But it brought good fortune! The spirit told us, put in at Tortuga, and we made a nice bit of profit there" he paused. "Off the books," he admitted to Will.

Will ran his fingers over the familiar white fabric. "I imagine some of your crew might have jumped ship there?" he smiled.

Bellamy waved his hand, "Bound to happen."

Suddenly, Crowley reappeared at the doorway into the Captain's cabin. "Captain!" He cried, "A ship's been spotted."

"Colours?" Bellamy asked, standing up.

"She's not flying any," he responded.

"Pirates," Bellamy concluded, glancing wearily at Will.

"Or worse," Will replied, tossing the blankets off of himself, as he ran back out to the deck. He climbed the yard arm, and looked out at the water. He turned back to the others, "It's the Flying Dutchman!" he cried. "I've doomed us all."

He'd barely finished speaking when the trader lurched to a sudden stop.

"Mother Cary's chickens!" The bursar shouted "What happened?"

"Must have hit a reef!" the quartermaster yelled back in response. After all, large ships never stopped on their own accord.

Captain Bellamy looked over the railing, trying to see what halted them, but the sea looked empty. "Free the rudder!" he commanded. "Hard to starboard, then to port, and back again!"

The sailors followed his orders, but the ship remained still. They turned back to Bellamy, looking for further orders, but he wasn't there. The crew looked out towards sea where, suddenly, a figure shot out of the top of the water, wrapped in a huge tentacle. As they looked closer, it became clear to them that this was the captain. The tentacle rose higher into the air, before it slapped the screaming captain down upon the water.

"KRAKEN!" the crewmen cried, terror permeating their screams.

Having taken out the captain, the Kraken moved for the ship, its arms sweeping over the decks, smashing the longboats in the process.

In a spray of sea foam and wood, the Kraken broke the ship in two and pulled it under water.

When it was over, six men from the Trader kneeled on the deck of the Dutchman. "Where is the son?" Jones asked, studying the line of terrified sailors. "And where is the key?" he asked Marcus.

Marcus shook his head. "No sign," he answered. "he must have been claimed by the sea."

"I am the sea!" Jones bellowed angrily. He turned back to the line of sailors and waved his claw. "Overboard" he said simply. They were of no use to him.

As his crewmen tossed the last survivors of the merchant ship over the side, Jones paced the deck. "The chest is no longer safe," he growled, knowing Bootstrap's son had the key, and was working with Sparrow. "Crowd on sail, and gather way. Chart a course to Isla Cruces."

"He won't find the chest," a crewman said.

"He found out about the key, didn't he?" Jones shouted impatiently. He would not risk Jack discovering the location of his heart. He needed to get to Isla Cruces before Will –or Jack –arrived. "get me there first, or there be the Devil to pay."

Holding fast to the stern of the Dutchman, and able to hear every word on deck, the sole survivor of the Edinburgh Trader, Will Turner, now knew where the chest was hidden. Hunkering down on the stern, he was suddenly filled with hope. He had a ride to the chest, and the key around his neck.

While Will was hitching a ride on the Dutchman, Jack had mapped a course to Isla Cruces on the Black Pearl. Jack's Compass, in Elizabeth's hand, had finally given him the proper direction.

But yet, Elizabeth didn't seem too happy.

Charlotte came and sat down next to her friend, who looked positively miserable. "Elizabeth, are you alright?" Charlotte asked, placing a hand on her best friend's back, rubbing circles of comfort.

Elizabeth shook her head, as she stared out to sea. "I don't know." She rested her head on Charlotte's shoulder.

Just then, Jack sauntered by, drinking from a bottle of rum. He offered it to Elizabeth who gave him an angry look. He turned to Charlotte and crudely mimicked Elizabeth's face. Charlotte gave him a cold look before snatching the rum from his hand and taking a long drink.

Jack peered at Elizabeth's face. "My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me you are troubled."

Elizabeth sighed, "I just thought I'd be married now."

Jack smiled agreeably. "I like marriage! Charlotte and I always say its like a wager on who will fall out of love first."

Charlotte shook her head, "looks like your intuitive sense needs some readjusting."

Jack turned back to Elizabeth. "You know, I am captain of a ship-"

"Very well spotted," Charlotte interjected, causing Jack to shush her.

"I could perform a marriage right here. On this very deck, right… now" he offered.

"No thank you," Elizabeth said, to his hasty proposal.

"Why not?" he asked, smiling. "Admit it. We are so much alike. You and I, I and you, us."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she headed towards the railings. "Except for, oh I don't know, a sense of decency and honour. And a moral centre. And personal hygiene" she added.

Jack looked himself over. "Trifles" he said quickly. "You will come over to my side in time. I know."

"You seem quite certain."

Jakc nodded. "One word love: curiosity. You long for freedom, just as Charlotte did a few years ago. To do what you want because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. You want to see what its like. Someday," he said, looking into her eyes, "you wont be able to resist."

Elizabeth kept her face stone-like, knowing Charlotte would not take too kindly to her flirting back with Jack. With a chill in her voice, she responded. "Because you and I are alike, there will come a moment when you have the chance to show it –to od the right thing."

Jack's face brightened. "I love those moments." He wandered past her, waving his hand and grinning. "I like to wave at them as they pass by."

Elizabeth ignored him. "You will have a chance to do something brave. And in that moment you will discover something."

Jack looked at her as though he couldn't imagine what on earth that something might be. A puzzled look crossed his face.

"That you are a good man," Elizabeth told him finally.

"All evidence to the contrary," he pointed out.

"I have faith in you. Do you know why? Curiosity," she said confidently. She leaned in close to Jack, "You're going to want it. A chance to be admired and gain the rewards that follow. You won't be able to resist," she whispered, before turning her back on Jack and walking away.

Charlotte was standing on the other side of the boat holding the jar of dirt Tia had given Jack. She watched the exchange with mild interest, reminding herself that she trusted Jack. Her eyes suddenly spotted the island in the distance.

"Land Ho!" she cried.

Jack raced to the rails and spotted the tiny island of Isla Cruces on the horizon. His eyes fell down to the still water. The island was too far for Jack's taste. "I want my jar," he said meekly.


	40. Chapter 41

Charlotte walked up to Jack, shoving the jar into his ribs.

"Ouch!" he cried, his arms wrapping around the jar.

"I'll be getting ready," Charlotte said, turning on her heel and marching back down to their quarters.

The Pearl neared Isla Cruces, causing the shipmates to run along the deck, preparing the longboat for the shore party. Charlotte quickly grabbed her knives, gun, and swords, strapping them around her body. She headed back up to the deck, where Elizabeth and Jack were crowding over the compass, Jack clutching the jar of dirt.

Charlotte began to make her way to them, weaving in and out of the pirates, when someone grasped her shoulders.

She turned to see Norrington, holding a shovel, looking at Jack and Elizabeth as well. "Still think that Jack's an honest man?" he asked her.

Charlotte considered this for a moment. "Depends on the topic," she decided unable to meet his eyes. She turned away from him, and headed to the pair. "Know where we're headed?" she asked.

Elizabeth shushed her, her eyes closed as she whispered something under her breath. The compass needle began to swing around in circles, stopping every which way, landing on Jack for a mere second, before jumping to the left of him, where the island was.

Jack grinned, "We have a heading." He marched over to the longboat and gestured for Elizabeth to follow.

Norrington gave Charlotte a pointed look as she trailed behind Elizabeth, who'd sat down opposite Jack. Charlotte quickly took a seat next to Elizabeth, before Norrington placed the shovel in the longboat and made to walk off.

"Hold on there mate," Jack said, causing Norrington to turn around slowly to face him.

"What?" he asked.

Jack was going to comment on his attitude, before deciding not to. "We need someone to dig. Get in."

Norrington rolled his eyes and huffed, before sitting down next to Jack. Pintel and Ragetti were sitting close behind, oars ready.

Jack nodded his knuckles white from holding the jar tightly. "Quickly please," he said to the crewmen.

Gibbs and Cotton lowered the boat into the water, where the two pirates quickly began to row them towards the island. It didn't take long for them to start bickering.

"You're pulling to fast," Pintel complained to his one eyed friend.

"You're pulling to slow," Ragetti answered. "We don't want the Kraken to catch us."

Charlotte was about to tell the pair to knock it off, when she noticed how unnerved the name of Davy Jones's pet made Jack, and decided he could live with a little discomfort.

"I'm saving me strength for when it comes," Pintel said. "And I don't think its pronounced 'Krack-en,' anyways. I always heard it said 'Kray-ken.'"

Jack cringed as Ragetti spoke. "What with a long a? Krock-en's how it is in the original Scandinavian," he continued, leaning on the oars. "And Krack-en's closest to that."

They heard a sudden splash in the water, and the two took to rowing faster. They could debate later.

Reaching the shore, jack hopped out gratefully. He took off his jacket, patting the pocket to make sure the Letters of Marque were still in there, before placing it and the jar in the longboats bow. He grabbed the shovel. "Guard the boat. Mind the tide," he said to Pintel and Ragetti. Jack thrust the compass in Elizabeth's hands as they all made their way up the beach.

"I didn't expect anyone to be here,"Norrington said, as they came upon an old abandoned church.

"There's not" Charlotte replied.

"You know this place?" he asked, surprised.

"Stories," she replied, as they followed Elizabeth's lead. "The Church came to the island and brought salvation, disease, and death. They say the priest had to bury everybody, one after the other. Eventually, he went mad and hung himself in the tower." She pointed to the bell tower a little way away.

Norrington considered this. "Better mad with the rest of the world than sane alone," he noted.

Charlotte paused to stare at Norrington. He'd changed so much since she first met him. This cynical man was not the commodore she knew from Port Royal.

"No fraternizing with the help, love" Jack said, nudging Charlotte out of her thoughts as he walked up to Elizabeth, who was scowling at the compass in her hand. She continued to walk a few more steps before the needle began swinging around violently –they'd found the spot!

Jack grinned while Charlotte drew an X in the sand with the toe of her boot. Jack handed the shovel to Norrington, "dig."

At the same time on an outer reef of Isla Cruces, the Flying Dutchman came around the point. Through his spyglass, Jones saw the longboat. "They're here," he scowled, stomping on the deck. "And I cannot step foot on land again for near a decade!"

"Ye'll trust us to act in your stead?" Marcus asked him.

"I trust you to know what awaits should you fail!" Jones promised. "Down then," he ordered his crew.

Marcus nodded and called out to the crew, "down!" The bow of the Dutchman submerged into the deep blue sea, bubbles rushing over her deck. In a moment the ship when under, and moved swiftly beneath the waves as though it were being pushed by an invisible hand. Fish darted by the Dutchman as it headed for Isla Cruces, churning the sea above it to foam.

Balancing the oars on their hands, and wandering the beachside like the bumbling idiots they were, Pintel and Ragetti spotted the ship delve under water, in horror before running to tell the others.


	41. Chapter 42

At this point it was clear: time was running out for Jack. He needed to get the heart of Davy Jones and use it to barter for the freedom of his crew, the Pearl, and his life. The three of them stood over the hole Norrington was currently digging. He felt the three of them eyeing him, so he made sure to toss the next shovelful of sand into Jack's eyes.

"Bugger," Jack said, wiping them clean and attempting not to cry in front of his crew. He was about to give Norrington a piece of his mind when the shovel suddenly clanked against something hard.

They'd finally hit the chest! The four of them exchanged excited looks before jumping down into the hole to help lift it out. The cool, iron chest was caked with sand, having been buried for what one could only assume to be a few decades. Elizabeth bent down, "Its locked!" she cried, tugging at the giant iron lock.

Jack turned around quickly, grabbing Norrington's abandoned shovel and shooed her to the side, before breaking the lock open. "Problem solved," he muttered, tossing the shovel aside once more. The four kneeled down and cleared the remains of the lock from the chest.

Roughly, Jack swung the top open, revealing hundreds of letters, dried flowers, a gown, a small little dagger, a plethora of jewelry and other valuables. Jack rifled through the contents and quickly found what he was looking for. Buried deep beneath the remains of what was probably a very deep romance, was another, albeit smaller, iron chest. He pulled it out from underneath a stack of letters, and placed in on the edge of the larger chest. The other three turned to place their ears closer to the chest.

THUMP! THUMP!

Elizabeth's head flew back, connecting with Charlotte's. "Ow!" Charlotte muttered, while Elizabeth and Norrington marvelled at the chest.

"It's true!" Elizabeth cried, looking from Jack to the chest.

"You weren't lying after all," Norrington added, looking at the chest interestedly.

"You'd be surprised how often I tell the truth," Jack said, unable to resist a good round of 'I told you so!' between his cremates. His hand crept towards his pocket before falling flat against his leg. "We still need that bloody key," he thought, thinking about where William Turner could possibly be.

"And with good reason," said a voice from behind the quartet. They turned to spot Will, soaked form head to toe, breathing heavily behind them.

Elizabeth's face lit up like a thousand lanterns. "Will!" she cried, looking at him with astonishment. She stood up and rushed to him, "You're alright!" The three watched while she swung her arms around his neck, pulling him in tightly.

While Norrington averted his eyes to the ground by his feet, Jack was looking past Will's shoulder to the water behind him. "How did you get here?" he asked worriedly.

"Sea turtles, mate. A pair of them, strapped to me feet." he grinned, referencing one of Jack's well-known legends. Charlotte attempted to stifle a laugh while Norrington rolled his eyes.

Jack, however, grinned at Will's slight. "Not so easy, is it?"

Will shook his head, as he and Elizabeth approached the others. "No, but I do owe you thanks, Jack," Will said, conversationally. "If you hands tricked me onto the Dutchman -to square your debt with Jones-"

"You did what?!" Elizabeth yelled, looking at Jack angrily.

"... I was reunited with my father," Will finished.

Jack smiled nervously, keeping one eye on Elizabeth, "You're welcome."

Elizabeth, however, wasn't feeling so thankful. "So every word you said to me was a lie?" she asked, glaring at Jack.

Jack considered her for a moment. "Yes," he said finally. "Time and tide, lass." Charlotte noted the lack of apology in his tone. Suddenly, the cocky expression with which he'd ben regarding Elizabeth evaporated, as he spotted Will kneeling by the chest, which was thumping away. He spotted the key in one hand, and a knife, steadied in the other.

"What are you doing?" Charlotte asked, as she followed Jack's eyes to Will.

"I'm going to kill Jones" Will answered monotonously.

In a flash, a cool blade was pressed against Will's throat. "I can't let you do that mate," said Jack."If Jones is dead, then who's to call his little beastie off the hunt, aye? Now -the key, please" he ordered, hand outstretched.

Quick as lightning, Will slapped Jack's sword away and grabbed Elizabeth's cutlass from her waist. "I keep the promises I make," he said, facing off with Jack. "I intend to free my father."

But suddenly, Norrington drew his sword from its sheath, and turned on Will. "I can't let you do that either. Sorry."

Jack, who was momentarily shocked by the former commodore's actions, grinned. "I knew you'd warm up to me eventually," he said, delighted by the turn of events.

Norrington quickly pointed his sword at Jack, betraying his true intentions. "Lord Beckett desires the contents of that chest. If I deliver it, I get my old life back."

Charlotte, enraged by Norrington's deal with her brother, quickly drew her sword, and placed it directly by Norrington's throat. "Well, it looks like your old life is gone."

"Ah. The dark side of ambition," Jack said grimly.

The four of them sprung forward, their blades all locked together in a clash of steel.

"Will," Charlotte said urgently. "We can't let Norrington have the chest. He doesn't know what Beckett is capable of."

"She's right," Jack said, clashing swords with Norrington. "You can trust us on this."

Will gave him a withering look, "do you not remember what happened last time I took your word?"

"You can mistrust us less than you can mistrust him," Jack countered, causing Norrington to laugh.

Jack withdrew for a moment, allowing Will to consider, while Charlotte took on the Commodore. "You do look awful," he said to the bedraggled commodore.

"Granted," Norrington said slightly out of breath. "But you're still naive. Jack just wants the chest and Elizabeth to himself."

"Pot. Kettle. Black." Jack said, summing up the three men's situation in three words.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Why am I not surprised with you Jack?" she said, shaking her head and aiming her next blow at Jack.

Jack quickly backed away, "If we get rid of these two first, we can fight amongst ourselves later."

"Becket first, and I'll deal with you later" Charlotte agreed, turning back to Norrington, while Jack faced off with Will.

"Guard the chest!" Will told Elizabeth, as he swung wildly at the other three opponents.

"No!" she cried, looking at the four of them, annoyed. "This is not how mature adults settle their affairs," she said, but they paid her no attention.

From between the palms, Ragetti watched the situation with interest. "How did this a-go all screwy?" Pintel asked, arriving beside him and crouching low. They both eyes the chest.

Ragetti sighed, "Each wants the chest for . Norrington, I think, is tryin' to regain a bit o' honour, ol' Jack's looking to save his own skin, Miss Charlotte is tryin' to keep it from her no-good brother Beckett, and Turner there... he's trying to solve a bit o' business 'twixt him and his twice-cursed pirate father."

"Sad," Pintel commented. "That chest must be worth more'n a shiny penny. If we was any kind of decent, we'd remove temptation from their path." The two pirates gave each other a sideways glance and crept towards the chest.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was still trying to stop the wild sword fight, but nothing seemed to be helping. She fell to the sand, and pretended to faint due to the heat, hoping they would break away form their fight and try to help her. But as she watched the four of them continue to fight through an open eye, she quickly sat up and crossed her legs and arms in the sand.

Just then, from the corner of her eye, she spotted Pintel and Ragetti making off into the jungle, the chest between them.

Jumping to her feet, she was torn for a moment, between telling Will or chasing the chest. She squinted at the four figures continuing to fight in the distance, before ducking off in to the jungle, to chase after the chest.


	42. Chapter 43

The fight was now in full swing, moving all around the small island.

Norrington shoved Will back, hard, forcing him to drop the iron key.

"Hah-hah" Jack howled, watching the key launch into the air, before landing squarely in his hand. Norrington and Will stood stunned as Jack took off down the beach with the key, then quickly regained their composure and bolted after him

Jack headed fro the old church. Racing into the bell tower, key in hand, he climbed the wooden stairs. High above him, dangling from the timbers was the skeleton of the legendary hanged priest. Jack gave the skeleton a quick not, and continued his climb.

Norrington and Will quickly caught up to Jack on the stairs. Norrington started, swinging his sword at Jack. But Jack stepped aside just in time The weapon whistled as it moved past his arm. With a grunt, Norrington slammed Jack with the hilt of his sword, wrenched the key from his hand, and flung Jack from the stairway.

As Jack fell, he reached out and grabbed the bell tower rope that held the priests skeleton. Jack and the skeleton both dropped straight down. but Will grabbed the second rope, and was hoisted up just as Jack was making his way down. Will snatched the key from Norrington as he passed him near the top of the tower. When Will reached the top, the church bell began to toll.

Down on the beach, a gentle ripped appeared in the water. Slowly and eerily, the heads of Jones's crew rose from the pale blue water, and the fearsome gang stalked ashore. They gathered at the now-empty, recently dug hole.

Suddenly, the sound of the church bells drew the crew's attention to the tower, and they spotted Will Turner stepping onto the rooftop.

Will was trying to get away from Jack, Norrington, and now Jones's crew. He heard footsteps behind him, and jumped across a break in the roof as Norrington slashed at him over the gaping void. Using the point of his sword, Norrington nimbly lifted the key from Will's grasp. The former commodore felt the sudden weight of the key as it dropped into his hand, and felt it disappear just as quickly when Jack snatched it away from him- again.

Filled with rage, Norrington turned and knocked Jack's sword from his hand. He looked over his shoulder at Will. "Excuse me while I kill the man who ruined my life."

"Be my guest," Will answered, withdrawing his sword and relaxing for a moment.

Jack, however, raised a finger. "Let's examine that claim for a moment, shall we former commodore?"

Will couldn't help but roll his eyes and smile as Jack once again tried to turn the odds in his favour. "Who was the man who, at the moment you had a notorious pirate safely behind bars and a beautiful dolly belle bound for the bridal, saw fit to free said pirate and take your dearly beloved for himself?" Jack nodded towards Will, whose eyes widened.

Norrington didn't let Jack continue."Enough!" he roared, slashing wildly at Jack. Unarmed, Jack threw up his hands and slid down the roof, screaming. The key dropped to the into a pile of hay on the ground below.

"Good show!" said Will, clapping.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Turner," said Norrington, turning his blade on Will,"he's right." Norrington hated Jack, but he wasn't that fond of Will, either.

Below them, Jack took advantage of the fight above, and quickly found he key. HE got to his feet and began to run. "Still rooting for you mate!" he called up to Norrington as swords clashed.

Jack slowed to a walk and put the key over his neck. Just when he thought he was safe, he stumbled into an open grave.

As Jack tried to get out of the hole, Will leaped on to a mill wheel that was attached to the side of the church. The old wheel creaked under the weight, but when Norrington jumped on, the wheel splintered off completely, rolling down the hill, forcing the pair to steady their legs and keep balanced.

Just as Jack finally pulled himself out from the grave, he was caught up by the rolling wheel. The key fell away from Jack's neck and was hooked on a splintered nail on the surface of the wheel. A moment later, Jack was thrown off the wheel, he had lost the key... again. He sighed and then took off after the runaway wheel.

Meanwhile, in the small island's jungle, Elizabeth and Charlotte had finally caught up with Pintel and Ragetti.

"Ello Poppets," Pintel said, grinning as the pair confronted them. He and Ragetti set down the chest and withdrew their swords. Charlotte unsheathed hers, and pointed it threateningly at Pintel, while Elizabeth reached for hers. Suddenly, she remembered that Will had taken it, and moved slightly behind Charlotte.

The two pirates moved forward, prepared to strike when something came crashing through the jungle. The four heads turned to see the mill wheel roll past with Jack running full speed behind it.

Pintel and Ragetti shrugged, focusing again on Elizabeth and Charlotte. Suddenly, a barnacle-encrusted axe hit a tree next to Ragetti's head with a twang. Jones's crew had arrived.

Pintel and Ragetti exchanged looks before dropping their swords in horror. They grabbed the chest and made a run for it, while Elizabeth took one sword, leaving Charlotte with two in each hand. The pair quickly took off deeper into he jungle as well, with Jones's crew running after them.

Running as fast as they could while still holding the chest, Pintel and Ragetti tried to pass on either side of a tree and slammed the chest into its trunk. Jones's crew burst out of the jungle behind them. Looking at he trunk and then at the imposing and terrifying crew, Ragetti, Pintel, Charlotte, and Elizabeth made a quick decision: the three of them took off and left the chest behind.

On another part of the island, a chase was still going on. Jack was after the wheel, which held the key to what was in the chest. HE pick dup some speed and for the first time he was running next to the wheel as opposed to behind it. Focusing on the key as it looped around, Jack timed his move perfectly with the several spokes and jumped back into the wheel.

From his spot on top, Will saw what Jack was reached down, grabbed the key from off the nail, and swung himself into the inside of the wheel. Norrington was quick to follow. Slashing at Will, Jack was quick to grab the key. He swung himself onto the outer rim of the wheel, before jumping up and wrapping his arms around the large leaves of a palm tree.

He jumped down, bringing a hail of coconuts with him. He looked up just in time to notice one of Jones's crew members - and he was carrying the chest. Jack reached for a coconut. Happy with its weight, he hurled it at the crewman's head.

Jack saw the undead crewman's head go flying off by his well-placed coconut. None of the other crewmen were around, and with the key in hand (and unable to believe his good fortune) he approached the chest.

Jack took a breath. Kneeling beside the chest, he turned the key in the lock, and listened to several clicks before the locking mechanism disengaged. Holding his breath, he gently lifted the lid. His eyes widened as he saw what he'd been searching for: Jones's heart. taking off his vest, he reached into the chest and wrapped the heart safely up. Then, he glanced around one more time to make sure he hadn't been spotted before taking off for the longboat.

He saw it floating on the edge of the water, and rushed to the bow. Reaching in, he grabbed his jar of dirt, and unlocked it. Emptying part of it onto the beach, he quickly stuffed the heart in the jar, before topping it off with more sand.

Behind him, he heard a loud noise. Quickly, he put the jar back into the boat and spun on his heel. Charlotte, Elizabeth, Pintel and Ragetti came bursting through the jungle, the latter two hauling the chest, and Jack could hear Jones's crewmen were not far behind.

Elizabeth and Charlotte began to slash away at Jones's crew, but their efforts were increasingly futile. Jack grabbed an oar from the boat and made toward Charlotte. The pair were nearly overrun, when the mill wheel came barreling out of the jungle as well.

The wheel rolled over the majority of the crew, allowing the pair to withdraw towards the boat, along with Pintel and Ragetti.

Jack, unhappy with how crowded the beach had become, gritted his teeth.

The huge wheel lumbered off into the waterline, before it tilted over with a splash. Will and Norrington dizzily climbed out. Norrington staggered over to the longboat and collapsed over the edge. He lifted his head and his eyes fell on Jack's jar. He quickly reached into the bow.

Jack held his breath and watched as Norrington's hand moved past the jar, and towards his jacket, where the letters of Marque were poking out from his jacket pocket. Jack didn't bother trying to stop him. He had no need for those papers, now that he'd the heart of Davy Jones, which provided him with safe passage or peril for every ship that sailed the seven seas.

As Jack contemplated his good fortune and the things he'd do with his newfound power, the fight on the beach raged on. It had now become Sparrow's crew versus Jones's. The others had forgotten their feuds with one another and united against the barnacle encrusted pirates, whose indestructibility gave them an advantage.

Suddenly, through the chaos, Will spotted the chest. The key was still in the lock. He leaned down to open it when Jack quickly spun around with an oar in hand, and whacked him in the head. Will fell to the sand unconscious. Rushing to his side, Elizabeth looked down at her fiancé.

"We're not getting out of this," Elizabeth said to Norrington, as she looked around at the situation. The fighting on their side was getting more and more desperate, as Jack, Charlotte and Norrington continued to fight the pirates.

Norrington nodded, and looked back at the chest. "Not with that here, anyway," he said, knowing what had to happen. He grabbed the chest and ordered the others into the boat. "Don't wait for me," he called back, as he hoisted the chest under one arm, his sword aloft in the other. He slashed through Jones's remaining crew, and drew them back into the folds of the jungle.

"I saw we respect his final wish," Charlotte said, getting into the boat.

Jack got in behind her. He bent down and grabbed the jar of dirt, holding on to it tightly. He had the hear,t but he didn't want to take any chances. Charlotte, who sat next to him, and he turned to give her a secretive look. Pointing down at the jar, he mouthed, "The heart." Charlotte's eyes widened, before she looked away, not wanting to alert the other occupants of the longboat.

"We have to take Will," Elizabeth ordered. Charlotte and Jack rolled their eyes, before nodding and letting Pintel and Ragetti haul Will into the boat as well. Without another word they pushed off the island, leaving Norringotn behind.


	43. Chapter 44

After two more mentions of the Kraken and several threats of disembowelment, the crew (minus Norrington) were back on the deck of the Pearl. Jack clung to the jar tightly, continuing to act as though he'd let Norrington wander off with the chest. Elizabeth and Charlotte exchanged small looks, knowing full well that they were in dire trouble.

Will began to stir and Elizabeth went to tend to him. He opened his eyes slowly, "what happened to the chest" he asked, his voice thick with exhaustion.

The others exchanged looks, while Elizabeth spoke. "Norrington took it – to draw them off."

Suddenly, Gibbs stepped forward, itching to make sail. "Jack!" he called. " We spied the Dutchman an hour past, rounding the point."

Jack turned to him ,"Is that so?" he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Charlotte gave him a funny look, but didn't have time to figure out what was going on. They had a much more pressing matter on their hands - the Dutchman was close. "All hands! Set sail! Run her full!" Charlotte shouted, making her way to the helm.

While the rest of the crew scrambled to carry out Charlotte's orders, Jack felt no need to rush. He sauntered over to the table behind Charlotte and sat atop it, his legs swinging as he cradled his precious jar.

Gibbs walked over to Charlotte, "What do you think's the matter with him?"

Charlotte shrugged, "many things. You want know, you can ask him." She turned back to look out at the sea, silently telling Gibbs to go and pester Jack.

From behind the pair, Jack laughed, forcing the two to turn back to him.

"What?" they asked in unison.

Jack stopped swinging his legs for a moment, as he surveyed the two. "Gibbs, is your throat tight?" he asked.

"Aye," Gibbs answered, his eyes shifting from Charlotte to Jack.

Jack nodded, "Your heart beats fast, your breath is short, you have an acute awareness of the vulnerability of your own skin?"

"Aye! Aye!"

"I fear you suffer from the malady of intense and overwhelming fear," Jack observed casually.

"Bollocks," Charlotte whispered, causing Jack to turn to her. "What's into you? We're barely going to get through this, even if the wind holds!" she cried.

Jack grinned, "Love, there is nothing to worry about." He paused, "you don't seem slightly fearful at all. No fast heart, no shortness of breath… perhaps we can fix that?" he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Tempting," she said, turning back to the sea.

Elizabeth, who'd joined them in that much time, agreed with Jack. "There's an empty horizon. I see no danger."

Clearly, she'd spoken too soon. As they watched in horror, the surface of the ocean began to bubble and foam. Suddenly, with a loud creak, the Flying Dutchman shot up from the depths, and settled next to the Pearl, sending a wave over her decks.

"Hard to port! Steal his wind! Full canvas!" Gibbs and Charlotte shouted.

As the crew worked furiously at their stations, Jack turned towards the Dutchman. Lifting the jar over his head, he pointed to it, nodded, smiled, before adding a friendly wave.

At the helm of the Dutchman, Davy Jones's eyes narrowed and widened as he realized Jack must have his heart. Baring his teeth he yelled, "Ready the cannons!"

Jack, ignoring this clear threat, continued to yell out to the Dutchman and its captain. "Over here! Yoo-hoo! Parlay!"

Charlotte left the helm to Gibbs and quickly began to walk alongside Jack. "What's your play here?"

"Shhh" Jack said, thumping the jar. "I have the heart. In here," he whispered.

Charlotte's eyes widened, and she grinned. "How in the hell?"

Jack gave her a quick kiss, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, remember?"

Charlotte's grin was quickly wiped off as the cannon ports on the Dutchman opened. While she knew Jones would be careful not to damage his heart, she also knew that Jack was not invincible. She had to protect the Pearl at all costs. "Hard a port!" she cried, turning her attention back to the crew.

Jack's crew scrambled, and the Black Pearl tacked hard, leaving the Dutchman at her stern.

A blast of cannon fire suddenly came from the Dutchman's forward guns. "Into the swells! Go square to the wind! Come on!" Gibbs cried, as Charlotte returned to the helm to adjust course.

The Dutchman fired again, but the Pearl was pulling away. "She's falling behind!" Elizabeth cheered.

"Aye! With the wind, we've got her!" Gibbs nodded proudly.

"The Black Pearl can outrun the Dutchman?" Will asked the pair.

"That aint a natural ship," Gibbs said, nodding to the Flying Dutchman, while Charlotte steered. "It can sail against the wind, into a hurricane and not lose speed. That's how she takes her prey. But with the wind…" he left off, letting Will put the pieces together.

"We rob her advantage," Will finished, suddenly understanding.

"Aye," Gibbs said. "The Pearl is the only ship Davy Jones fears. With reason."

Jack smiled as he watched the Dutchman shrink into the distance. He held his jar close.

"Of we can outrun her, we can take her!" Will said, rushing towards Jack. "We should turn and fight!"

"Or flee like the cowardly weasels we are," Jack answered brightly.

"You've the only ship as can match the Dutchman! In a fair fight, we've got half a chance."

"That's not much incentive for us to fight fair, now is it?" Charlotte replied, while Jack drummed upon the lid of his jar.

Suddenly, the Black Pearl lurched. Sailors tumbled forward. Jack's jar was knocked free of his loving hands, and shattered, sending sand, dirt, and glass all over the deck. Horrified, he dropped to his knees and pawed through it. There was nothing more than the dirt and sand. Charlotte left the wheel with Gibbs, and went to help Jack.

Jack looked up at Charlotte and swallowed hard. "Um, I don't have the heart."

"Then who does?" Charlotte asked her brow furrowed. They felt the ship shudder to a stop.

Jack went pale. He had neither Jones's heart, nor did he have Tia Dalma's dirt.

Elizabeth looked out over the rail as the Pearl groaned to a halt. "We must have hit a reef," she called out.

Will frowned, as he remembered the last time he'd heard those words. It was on the Edinburgh Trader. A look of horror dawned upon his face, as he cried out. "No! It's not a reef! Get away from the rail!"

Elizabeth quickly stepped back, and turned to Will. "What is it?" she asked, seeing the terror in his eyes.

"The Kraken," Charlotte said, staring at Jack.


	44. Chapter 45

The deck of the Pearl grew silent as Charlotte's words sunk in. The Kraken had finally found Jack.

On the floor of the ship, Jack had stopped sifting through the mixture of dirt and sand. It was no use. The heart clearly was not there, and the Black Spot had reappeared on his hand once more – only this time, he didn't bother trying to cover it. He was marked, and the situation became hopeless. He was doomed.

He took one last look at Charlotte before executing his plan. As quietly as possible, he headed towards the Pearl's stern. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"And where do you think you're going?" Charlotte asked.

Jack's mouth dried up. "To see if we have any more dirt," he replied matter of factly.

Charlotte raised her eyebrows, "Oh really?"

Jack merely nodded, not wanting to incriminate himself further.

"You do realize you could scoop some of that sand into the bottom of each of your boots, right?" she suggested.

Jack squinted, trying to find the hole in her plan. Sighing, he replied, "Nobody likes a know-it-all," and watched as she turned back towards the deck. Once she was out of sight, he quickly jumped into the longboat and rowed away from the ship.

The water around the Pearl began to churn and bubble, indicating the Kraken's arrival. Then, the terrible creature appeared from the depths, tentacles held high above the crew.

"To arms! Defend the masts!" Charlotte yelled. "Don't let it get a grip!"

The crew ran to their stations and prepared for the oncoming attack. Cannons were loaded and masts made ready.

Slowly, the Kraken's tentacles made their way over the railings. The stench of rotting sea creatures and dead flesh permeated the air.

Will knew that the Kraken would attack from the starboard side from his earlier encounter with the creature, and the cannons were ready. "Easy mates," he said, as the tentacles continues to crawl up the hull.

"Will?" Elizabeth called, watching them grow higher.

"Steady! Steady," Will said.

"Will?" Charlotte cried, from the helm.

"Hold. Hold…" said Will.

"I think we've held fire long enough!" Charlotte cried.

"Will!" Elizabeth yelled.

"FIRE!" he commanded.

The Kraken was blown away- its body twisting and convulsing in pain as it sank back into the sea, smashing the remaining longboats as it went down. Pieces of burnt flesh landed with thuds along the deck.

"It'll be back," Will yelled to Charlotte, who nodded.

"We need to get off the ship. Now!" Charlotte cried.

"How? There aren't any boats," Elizabeth yelled back, pointing to where the longboats usually hung. "The Kraken attacked them."

"So its not just a dumb beast after all," Charlotte whispered, her voice flat and devoid of hope. She scoured the deck from the help, searching for Jack. "Where did he go?" she muttered.

As the Kraken was preparing to attack the Pearl, Jack was slowly working on getting as close to the island, as quickly as possible. But there was something stopping him from making a clean break. He looked down at his Compass and watched as the needle swung to its mark –the Black Pearl, Charlotte and his crew.

With a sigh, Jack began to row.

Back on the Pearl, all hope was lost, as the crew waited for the Kraken to win the battle. Nothing they did seemed to be working. Charlotte had loaded the cannons several times, but the beast continued to return. Elizabeth, Will and the others had hacked and stabs at its tentacles, but it was no use. The beast kept returning.

"Pull the grates! Get all the gunpowder onto the net in the cargo hold!" Will ordered.

He passed the rifle to Elizabeth, "what ever you do, don't miss."

"As soon as your clear," she said.

Charlotte gave him a curt nod, and watched as the crew loaded several barrels of gunpowder into the hold.

"We're short stocked on powder. Six barrels below," Gibbs said to Charlotte.

"Then… load the rum," she replied quickly.

Gibbs backed away in silence. Charlotte turned to the rest of the crew who had halted production as well, staring at her in shock. She gave a pointed look at Gibbs who cleared his throat. "Aye… the rum too!"

Grumbling the pirates threw all the rum they had into the hold.

"Step to!" Charlotte cried, heading back to the helm, where Elizabeth was standing, staring at something out in the sea. "What are you…" she followed Elizabeth's stare and spotted a boat in the distance. "Is that Jack?"

"Coward," Elizabeth muttered. She turned to Charlotte, "what do we do?"

Charlotte closed her eyes and turned back to the ship, where the crew and Will were continuing to put up a fight. "We fight," she said, heading back to the wheel.

There was a loud thud on the hull of the ship, causing the crewmen to shout. "This is not good," Marty yelled.

On the deck of the ship, Gibbs yelled orders out at the crew. "Heave! Heave like you're being paid for it!" That got the pirates attentions, and they slowly lifted the net of powder and rum into the air.

Will was clinging to the outside of the net, attempting to attract the Kraken's attention. "Come on! I'm over here! Come on!" He slashed his sword violently, nicking the Kraken's tentacles, angering it further.

As the monsters tentacles slithered towards Will, he yelled, "Shoot! Elizabeth, shoot!"

At the helm, Elizabeth hesitated. She had the rifle aimed perfectly, but was waiting for Will to fall free.

Suddenly, she was jerked backwards, as one of the Kraken's tentacles grasped her leg. She dropped the rifle, and screamed as she was pulled back.

Charlotte quickly grabbed an axe from a nearby crewmember and managed to chop off the end of the tentacle holding Elizabeth.

Charlotte, having regained her composure, ran to pick up the rifle, but someone's foot was placed upon it. Annoyed and frustrated, she tried to push their foot off of the rifle, before looking up into Jack's face. "Jack?" she cried.

"Miss me love?" he asked, as he picked up the rifle. She watched as he aimed at the gunpowder and fired.

The bullet whistled through the air, struck the gunpowder, and causing the explosion.

The Kraken quickly released its hold, and with a long groan, its burnt tentacles withdrew into the water.

"Did we kill it?" Marty asked hopefully.

"No, we just made it angry. We're not out of this yet. Captain! Orders?" Gibbs asked, turning to Jack.

Jack drank in the beauty of the Black Pearl, before looking at the crew. "Abandon ship. Into the longboat."

"Jack… the Pearl!" Gibbs cried.

Charlotte placed a hand on Jack's shoulder as he said, "She's only a ship, mate."

"He's right. We have to head for land," Elizabeth said, as she spotted Will.

"'S a lot o' open wa'er" Pintel said, staring at the island in the distance.

"That's a lot o' wa'er," Ragetti agreed.

"We have to try. We can get away as it takes down the Pearl," Will said.

Gibbs sighed, staring at the crew. "Abandon ship. Abandon ship or abandon hope."

As the crew began to load supplies into the longboat, Charlotte and Jack stood by the mast, staring at the helm of the ship.

"I saw you leaving the ship earlier" Charlotte said, not looking at Jack.

He nodded.

"And you know the Kraken's not after the ship. It's after you," she continued.

He nodded once more.

"You have to stay on the ship," she said, as she clapped a shackle around his wrist. "You're a flight risk, so I think it's a bit necessary."

Jack grinned, "And yourself?"

Charlotte laughed, "I'm not a flight risk Jack. But if it helps," she said, silently raising her arm to show the other shackle around her wrist.

Will and Elizabeth appeared. "Aren't you two coming?"

Jack remained silent, while Charlotte replied. "Since you're giving us a choice… the answer is no."

Elizabeth spotted the shackles on Charlotte's arm. "This isn't funny Charlotte, come on!" She tucked at the chains, which continued to rattle, but not break.

"I'm pretty sure the Dragon is nearby here," Charlotte said. "I told Groves to go see Tia Dalma, and odds are she told him to be somewhere around here. Purple sales, Hull in the shape of a dragon. Can't miss it."

Will shook his head. "No! You're coming with us."

"Will, take Elizabeth and get in the longboat. Now!" she replied sternly.

The trio continued to stare at one another, until Will nodded. "Fine. I guess it is goodbye then."

The three hugged, before giving Jack the same treatment. The pair looked at the man who had been the cause of so much trouble, yet so much adventure in their lives. They left the ship, and descended into the longboat.

"Where are Jack and Charlotte?' Gibbs asked.

"They're staying behind. To give us a chance," Will replied, while Elizabeth wiped a tear from her eyes.

Gibbs and the rest of the crew seemed a little surprised at Jack's sudden decision to be chivalrous.

"Let's go," Elizabeth said heavily, as the longboat casted off.

Back on the deck, Jack struggled against the manacles.

"There's no where for you to go," Charlotte reminded him.

"Yes, I understand that, but I would like to have free range of my limbs when I die," Jack replied.

Charlotte considered him. "Very well," she dug around in her pocket and fished out the key for the manacles. She undid hers and then his.

Jack rubbed his wrist, "You had the keys this entire time?" he asked.

"Yes, because I wanted to make sure the longboat was gone once I uncuffed you," Charlotte replied. She looked around the deserted Pearl, "It's nice. And quiet."

"You know we have the whole ship to ourselves," Jack said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Charlotte grinned as she turned to him, "I noticed."

As the pair kissed, the Kraken rose out of the waters with a mighty roar, its tentacles snaking their way across the floorboards of the ship,

Upon smelling the foul and deadly breath of the monster, they quickly broke apart, and ducked behind the mast as the beast roared, spraying the deck with slime.

Jack heard a small thud and spotted something in the slime. He reached out to grab it with his sword.

"Don't pick…. It up" Charlotte faltered, as Jack let it hang from the tip of the sword.

Jack dunked the hat into a nearby vat of rum, and gave it a quick swirl before Charlotte took it out and placed it atop his head once more. "Not so bad," she quipped.

Jack watched as the spot disappeared from his hand once more. The pair turned to the Kraken, their swords drawn.

"Hello beastie," Jack said with a smile, before they charged towards it.

From the longboat, the crew of the Black Pearl watched as the Kraken battled Jack and Charlotte. It's tentacles had covered the entire ship, and with a mighty roar, the ship, Jack and Charlotte with it, were taken below the sea. Elizabeth leaned into Will and the pair mourned the loss of their dearest friend, Charlotte and her seafaring companion, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Pintel and Ragetti continued to row furiously to the shore of Isla Cruces, and in the far distance, through some of the trees. They spotted a large ship, with purple sails. "The Dragon," Will said, pointing to it. "Looks like Charlotte had a plan all along."

Onboard the Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones smiled as he watched the scene through his telescope. "Jack Sparrow" he said, with satisfaction, "Our debt is settled." But Jones was not the only person aboard the Dutchman that was watching. From one of the upper decks, Bootstrap Bill looked on as well. As Jack and Charlotte went down with the ship, Bootstrap's eyes grew wide with shock. What was left of his cursed heart wrenched.

With eyes full of sorrow, Bootstrap Bill looked out towards the still water, where Jack, Charlotte and the Pearl had so recently been sailing. He remembered Jack Sparrow –Captain Jack Sparrow –with a heavy heart. Quietly and painfully, Bill whispered out towards the empty sea, "If any man could beat the devil, I'd have thought it would be you."

The Black Pearl was gone, along with her captain. And, already, the world seemed a bit less bright without them.


	45. Chapter 46

"Row faster," Will said, turning to Pintel and Ragetti, who shot him an annoyed look.

"We're goin' as fast as we can," Pintel muttered, as they made a beeline for the Dragon, which was partially obscured behind a few palm trees.

In the distance, the Dutchman was falling behind, and soon, it disappeared into the depths of the sea.

As they neared the ship, a figure stood by the railing, calling out orders. As they climbed up the ship, Elizabeth let out a gasp. "Groves? What are you doing here?" She quickly cast a glance around the ship, making sure Beckett was no where near here.

"I've been with Charlotte since the hurricane fiasco a while back," Groves explained, as he helped the others onto the ship. "Where's Charlotte?" he asked, noting her absence from the small longboat.

The crew of the Black Pearl fell silent, until Will explained. "She's in Davy Jones's Locker. With Jack."

Groves shook his head, "Tia warned us about that. Said we needed to head straight back to her once we'd gathered the rest of the crew." He turned to the helm, where a tall Asian man was standing at attention. "Set Sail!"

The man saluted before yelling out orders at the rest of the crew, who ran to their stations.

Groves surveyed the others, "let's get you down to the quarters. You must be freezing," he said, ushering them along.

"Not so much freezing, as uh, in dire need of a drink," Gibbs said quietly from the back.

Groves nodded, "I figured as much."

She warned you about what would happen?" Will asked, as Groves led them through the ship.

Groves shook his head, "not exactly. She said something bad would happen. And seeing as this is the worst piece of news you could bring us, I figure this is what she meant." He pushed open a large door with gold filigree.

The workman in Will admired the level of detail on the Dragon. Even its mast looked realistic enough that if the ship sprouted wings and flied, he would not be surprised. They were ushered into a large room, filled with various artefacts from across the seas. Elizabeth picked up a small, golden statue of a buddha, recognizing it from the Isla de Muerta. Gently, she put it down, before her eyes landed on a beautiful, jewel-encrusted crown.

"This must be Charlotte's room," she said to Groves, who nodded with a small smile.

"Anything she thought you two would like, she kept. That way, if she ever saw you again, she wouldn't have a shortage of presents. Plus, it would make up for her missing your wedding." He paused, before looking at the pair, "the absence of wedding rings must mean its been delayed, yes?"

Elizabeth and Will sighed. "Yes. After Beckett's arrival in Port Royal-" Will began.

"Wait, Beckett? As in, Cutler Beckett?" Groves said quickly, looking between the two. "Last I heard he was stationed in England. What is he doing here?"

"Looking for Charlotte and arresting us for helping set Jack free" Elizabeth explained. "He wanted Jack's compass, and he wanted Charlotte to come back to Port Royal."

Groves shook his head, "No. If Beckett's involved there's got to be a higher level to all of this. Based on what I know from my time working in Port Royal and talking to Charlotte, there is no way Beckett would leave his post to come and find her. There's another purpose to his visit."

The crew exchanged worried glances. Groves told them to sit and relax before digging into every meeting Will and Elizabeth had ever had with Beckett. "Why the compass?" Groves muttered, after Will told him the deal Beckett had struck with him. "What could he possibly want?"

"Based on what I know of him, he seems like a power-hungry fool," Will said, as he drank from the bottle of rum he was sharing with Elizabeth. They fell silent for several more minutes before Groves shook his head.

"You've all been through the ringer today. I think it's best that you rest up." He looked out the row of windows that lined the side of the room, and watched as the sun began to set further. "We should be at Tia's in a few hours." He nodded to Elizabeth and Will, "feel free to stay in here. The rest of the crew can use the other rooms."

Slowly, the remaining crew of the Pearl followed Groves out, each offering their condolences to Elizabeth and Will, who were clearly still reeling from Charlotte's loss.

Elzabeth floated in and out of consciousness, her dreams plagued by darkness and Charlotte's screams. She awoke, sweat dripping down her forehead, ready to vomit. She turned to look at Will, but it was so dark, she could only make out the outline of his body, sprawled across the bed, fast asleep. Sighing, she stood up and stretched, and for a brief few seconds, she'd forgotten about Charlotte, Jack, and the Black Pearl. She wandered over to Charlotte's dresser, and opened one of the drawers slightly.

Immediately a wave of perfume washed over Elizabeth and she gently picked up one of the garments. It was a long skirt, covered with various embellishments and embroidery, next to it was a top, equally covered in embroidery. She folded it up and placed it back in the drawer, before climbing into the bed and trying to get back to sleep.

Beside her, Will, who'd felt her move and get up from the bed gently reached out and grabbed Elizabeth's hand, and gave it a slight squeeze before going back to sleep as well.

Eventually, the ship descended upon Tia Dalma's island. The crew of the Pearl (and Groves) headed into the longboat, while the other members of Charlotte's ship lowered them and Groves rowed along the familiar, which was all new for Elizabeth, who marvelled at the various flora and fauna that surrounded them. From between the trees, she spotted several children, peaking through the leaves of the Spanish Moss.

As they delved deeper into the island, flames began to illuminate the shore, as hundreds of men, women and children lined the water (some even standing waist deep in it) holding candles. It was an silent, yet eerie vigil for the Captain they had lost.

"Who exactly are we meeting here?" Elizabeth asked the others, who merely turned away from her question.

"Tia Dalma, she's a... well, I don't really know how to explain what she is," Will said. "She's the one who helped - us find the Dutchman."

The others noticed the slight pause Will took between choosing to whether or not to say "Jack."

Gibbs nodded, "some would call her a witch," he clarified.

Elizabeth was clearly taken aback. "But witches don't exist," she said, as though it were common sense.

Gibbs shook his head, "Yeh've come across cursed pirates and an undead man with his heard cut out, and witches be the stretch?"

Elizabeth had a moment to consider this before they finally arrived at their destination. Perched between two large trees was a beautiful little treehouse, illuminated by fireflies in jars. The boat hit the small plank by the stairs, and Groves quickly tethered it to the rail. He helped the others out, leaving the boat to rick softly on the water.

They climbed up the steps slowly, each of them holding their breath. Will based a hand, about to knock on the door, when it was flung open.

"Yeh have returned," Tia said, moving aside to welcome them in. She'd set up several chairs around a small table, which was already filled with several steaming hot mugs of tea. She let them settle down before grabbing a platter of questionable food. However, the others were in no position to refuse food, so they ate to their hearts content.

Tia watched them all carefully, paying much attention to Will, who was watching Elizabeth, who was sitting alone in the corner, still reeling from the loss of the previous day. She noticed Elizabeth hadn't anything to drink and made to pour her a glass. Elizabeth merely shook her head in response to Tia's movements.

Tia smiled sady, "Against the cold. And the sorrow." She pressed the warm glass into Elizabeth's hand, and she silently accepted it, clearly still lost in her thoughts.

Will was watching from the other side of the room. Tia made her way over to him. "It's a shame. i know you be thinking, with the Pearl, you could have caught the Devil and wrestled free your father's soul..."

"It doesn't matter" Will said suddenly. "The Pearl's gone... along with Charlotte and its Captain."

From across the room, Gibbs spoke, his voice hoarse. "Aye. And, already, the world seems a bit less bright without him. Tricked us all, right to the end, but that streak of honest finally won out." He paused before raising his glass, "To Jack Sparrow and Charlotte Vaughan!"

The others followed suit.

"Never another like Captain Sparrow" Ragetti said.

"He was a gentlemen of fortune, he was" Pintel added solemnly.

"Charlotte deserved better than the end she got," Elizabeth said, with a glare at the others, tears welled up in her eyes.

Groves nodded silently, missing his captain and her sense of humour.

"If there was anything could be done to bring them back, Elizabeth..." Will said, unable to tolerate the sadness in her eyes. While they'd both lost their best friend, it was hitting Elizabeth especially hard. The pair had been inseparable since they'd met in Port Royal all those years ago.

"Would you do it?" Tia said quickly, staring at Will. "What would you do, would any of you be willing to do?" she asked, looking at the others in the group. "Would you sail to the ends of the Earth and beyond, to fetch back Charlotte, Jack and 'im precious Pearl?"

The group looked at her, unsure of whether Tia had gone full-crazy, and half-hoping that she'd not gotten their hopes up for nothing.

Gibbs thumped his hand on the table, "Aye!"

"Aye" cried Pintel, hitting the table so hard, his eye flew out.

"Aye!" Groves cried, as Pintel searched for his eye.

Will looked at Elizabeth, who nodded "Yes."

That was enough to force Will to agree. "Aye."

Tia grinned, "Very well. But if you are to brave the weird and haunted shoals at world's end... then you be needing' a captain what knows those waters."

There was a loud creak and a thump, as though someone were walking down a particularly rickety set of wooden steps. The carved door behind Tia opened, and from the corner, Jack the Monkey began to chatter.

A pair of black boots, covered in dust appeared as a man stepped down the stairs. Hanging from the rail was a bushel of green apples, from which the man selected the brightest.

The entire crew stood in shock as Barbossa emerged, his foot landing hard on the floor of Tia's cabin. "Now tell me... what's become of my ship?" he asked, his voice conjuring several horrible memories from the minds of the cabin's occupants.

Jack the Monkey lept onto Barbossa's shoulder, as he took a bite from the apple, letting the juice run down his mouth and into his beard.


	46. Chapter 47

That same day, on the shores of Port Royal, a small battered boat was pulled up against the sand. Norrington wiped the sweat from his brow and peered up at the small fort on the water's edge, where he used to work. Next to the British Flag was another flag bearing the logo of the EITC.

A tall man with a heavily scarred face smiled as he approached Norrington. "What business do you have here, man?" he asked, his British accent hanging heavily in the air.

Norrington remained stoic. He didn't want people to know what he had with him. "I want to speak to Lord Beckett," he demanded.

Mercer shook his head, "Whatever you need to tell him, can be told to me."

Norrington smiled, "I don't know you, therefore I do not trust you. Now, I want to speak to Lord Beckett. I have the letters of Marque."

Mercer cocked his head as he stuck out a hand, forcing Norrington to hand them over. He opened the letters and peered down at the line at the bottom, where Norrington had signed his name. Shaking his head, Mercer spoke "follow me." He nodded to a nearby solider, who grabbed ahold of Norrington's arm, much to his annoyance. He led Norrington through the small, but new roads they'd paved in the town. As Norrington walked by, he spotted a few soldiers and civilians turn to stare. They hadn't seen the disgraced ex-Naval officer since he had gone on his venture to catch Sparrow over a year ago. They were even more upset with him, as his venture had claimed the lives of almost all of the men on board, when he tried to sail through the hurricane.

Mercer let him to a small mansion which peaked through the palm trees on the edge of the water. Norrington paused as he recognized the small red door. This house was once Charlotte's and since her disappearing act with Sparrow, Lord Beckett had claimed it as his own.

They were led through the mansion and towards a large room where an office was set up. On the far left side, opposite a grand fireplace, was a large mahogany desk. A short man in a white wig was rifling through some papers when Mercer knocked. He tossed the papers aside and waved the pair in. Mercer stepped further into the office, and handed Beckett the Letters of Marque, while Norrington was forced to stay by the door, his arm still caught in the other man's grasp.

After reviewing them, Beckett motioned once more, forcing the officer to release Norrington, who swung his arm away viciously. He hated being treated as a common criminal. The officer turned on his heel and marched off, leaving Norrington with Beckett and Mercer. Norrington approached the large desk, not at all intimidated by the man everyone feared.

Beckett looked up at him from his chair. "If you intend to claim these, then must have something to trade." He paused, "do you have the compass?"

Norrington smirked, "Better." From within his jacket he produced a leather pouch, which he dropped onto Beckett's desk. Immediately, the few flies in the room began to swarm around it, and there was a slight odour coming from the bag.

Beckett looked up at him, as if to say "what the hell is this?"

"The heart of Davy Jones," Norrington spoke blandly, as if it were no big find.

Beckett's eyes widened as he stared at the pouch, which slowly moved up and down. A rhythmic beat was emitted from its contents. Beckett leaned forward, continuing to stare at it with a mixture of intrigue, fear, and a slight bit of revulsion.

Slowly, he stood up reaching for the bag. He opened it and the fear slowly dissipated from his face as he formulated his next move. "It's remarkable," he muttered, so quietly that Norrington had to strain to hear it.

"I take that I have won commission as a privateer," Norrington said, making sure Beckett didn't forget the letters in his moment of awe.

Beckett looked back at him with consideration, as he moved around his desk. "Oh, I think better." He stood at the edge of the large table, where smaller one had been set beside. atop it lay a long, black wooden case. Beckett opened it gently, allowing Norrington to spot what was inside.

It was the sword Will Turner had made for him a long time ago, when Norrington had become Commodore. Norrington immediately gravitated towards it, as Beckett walked towards the large windows that covered the length of the wall. They led out to a balcony which looked over the docks of Port Royal.

"Reinstatement to you former rank and status, all rights and privileges attendant." He paused, before turning back to Norrington, who had picked up the sword, still in its sheath. "And I think a promotion due as well," Beckett said, turning to look at Norrington, who was far to focused on the sword, which he'd unsheathed. "Do you agree, Admiral Norrington?' he asked.

Norrington pulled his eyes away from the sword, and stared at Beckett, unsure if he was simply pulling his leg, or was actually speaking words of truth. He turned back to the sword and stared at it for a little longer, his eyes glazing over as he remembered his place in the ranks of the soldiers, and how he had thoroughly enjoyed it.

He quickly flipped the sword onto the back of his forearm, leaving an inch between its tip and the heart, which continued to beat away on the desk. "Give the order sir," Norrington said, as he remembered how to address his superiors best.

"oh, no, no no, no" Beckett said quickly, trying to conceal the worry from his face. If the heart was destroyed, the Dutchman would be too, and his plan would be foiled. "That would be terribly imprudent," he said, as Norrington trued to look at him. "Where's the profit in killing Jones, when instead we could add another ship to your fleet?' he asked smoothly.

It was at this moment, that Norrington could see the similarities between Charlotte and Beckett. The pair were both incredibly coy, witty and smooth talkers, which made them all the more dangerous when it came to making deals. However, Norrington allowed himself to ignore this; he was receiving his a promotion after all.

He watched as Beckett pushed the doors open and walked out onto the balcony. From beneath the water a ship erupted, forcing the men on the docks to spin around and stare at it in awe.

"The Flying Dutchman," Beckett spoke, as he, Norrington and Mercer walked to the edge of the balcony. Its sails were fully raised, and its crew lined the starboard side of the ship, staring at Beckett.

Norrington stared at Beckett for a moment, before looking back out at the ghostly ship.

"Whoever controls the heart of Davy Jones, controls the sea" Beckett said, continuing to look at the Dutchman.

From their position, the three of them watched as Davy Jones (regretfully and angrily) ripped his hat from his head, and placed it over his heart.

It was Norrington's turn to be awestruck. He knew the heart had value, but he had never considered how much until he'd seen this. From what he knew, Davy Jones never bowed to anyone. It was then that he realized how much power he'd given Beckett.

From behind, an old man approached the trio. "The map is finished sir," he said, his voice shaking from exhaustion and old age.

The trio turned and Beckett headed back into the office. Norrington remained at the balcony, torn between the ramifications of his decision, as he continued to stare at the Dutchman.

On the far side of the office was a large map, that had been painted directly onto the wall. Beckett stood in front of it, looking at the placement of all the different ships they had acquired and where they had ordered them to set up port. The EITC was truly taking over the world. From its several ships in India, to the hundreds bordering the shores of the continent of Africa, to the several more circling in the eastern shores of South America.

"Just the way I imagined it," Beckett said, with a smile as he looked at the new ship that had been painted next to Port Royal, a perfect replica of the Flying Dutchman.


	47. Chapter 48

Since Jack and Charlotte's deaths, and the loss of both the Black Pearl and the heart of Davy Jones, the East India Trading Company had become more and more powerful. Its base was located in Port Royal. He'd taken command of Governor Swann's mansion, and turned it into his own home. Governor Swann was stripped of his respect and influence upon the Crown. The only flag flying high on the Fort was embroidered with the EITC logo. Lord Cutler Beckett was ruthless and tyrannical as he began to lay claim to the sea. His first act, once he'd obtained the heart had been to call on Davy Jones, and force the captain to kill his beloved pet, the Kraken. Now, this was for no other reason than to prevent Jones from attacking any of the EITC ships. Charlotte had made her alliance with his mortal enemy, and she had paid the price of her decision to join the losing side of the war against piracy.

Beckett continued his purge of these lawbreakers by making his new base in Port Royal, the centre for all executions of those that had committed crimes against the Crown.

As he sat in the shade, filling out paperwork, his officers were continuing these executions. Today would be particularly gruesome, as the prisoners numbered easily over 500. The prisoners, who ranged from children to the eldest of the elderly were chained together in a long line that went as far back as the eye could see. As they shuffled forward to their deaths, their chains dragged on the burning ground, blistering their feet. The noise made Beckett smile, as it was the sound of his success. This was only topped by the sound of ropes tightening around the necks of those in the gallows. The groan of the wood underneath the weight of these hundreds of people carried in the air.

Standing on a podium, reading from a paper, stood Beckett's right-hand man, Lewis. Lewis was young, having just joined the British Navy a few years ago. The last seven men who held this position before him had either abandoned their post or committed suicide. Lord Beckett was not forgiving to those who resigned, as they held far to may secrets to be left unattended to.

Lewis cleared his throat before he spoke. "In order to effect a timely alt to deteriorating conditions, and to ensure the common good, a state of emergency is declared for these territories by the decree of Lord Cutler Beckett, duly appointed representative of HIs Majesty the King. By decree, according to martial law, the following states are temporarily amended." Lewis's voice faltered slightly as he looked over the amendments quickly. There was no way one man could possibly remove these individuals of their rights. But it was happening, and Lewis had no choice but to follow his orders.

"Right to assembly, suspended," he said. The prisoners in the gallows stopped shuffling around and watched as the hangman pulled the lever back, the floor under them opened, and they saw no more.

Beckett turned slightly, and could see the feet coming through the gallows floor. He smiled, unnerving to the soldiers around him.

On the far side of the courtyard, bodies were being carted out continuously. A trio of soldiers were assigned to rid the bodies of any possessions, shoes, and clothing before they were cremated, throws out to sea or dumped in unmarked graves - whichever one Beckett wanted to use today.

"Right to habeas corpus, suspended" Lewis continued, as the next set of prisoners were executed.

"Right to legal counsel, suspended."

More feet fell through the floor.

"Right to verdict by a jury of peers, suspended."

More feet.

"All persons convicted of piracy, or aiding a person convicted of piracy, or associating with a person convicted of piracy, shall be sentenced to hang by the neck until dead," Lewis finished, much to his relief.

He watched as the next group of seven prisoners were taken up to the gallows. As the first six adults ascended the steps, there was a slight patter. Behind them, a young boy, no older than ten.

His hair hung around his face, which was covered with grime. Unlike the rest of the prisoners, his feet were bare, and the clothes hung over his body, clearly several sizes too large. He stepped forward and looked up at the noose, the sun in his eyes. In his hand, he held a small coin, flattened out on the edges like some misshapen octagon. He flipped it over and over, letting the light reflect off of it. He hummed to himself, trying to keep himself distracted from his impending doom. "The King and his men, stole the queen from his bed, and bound her in her bones..." The man on his right turned his head slightly, unsure if he was just imagining things in his last moments. "The seas be ours, and by the powers. Where we will, we'll roam." A second later, he was lifted up into the air and placed on top of a barrel. The hangman tightened the noose around his neck.

The man next to him paused, licking his lips before continuing the boy's song. "Yo ho, all hands," his voice cracking. "Hoist the colours high..."

The remaining prisoners on the gallows began to sing as well, "Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die." They were immediately joined by the line of prisoners, who began to stomp, allowing the rattling of their chains to carry in the air.

The guards lining the row of prisoners backed away, lowering their bayonets, and turning to Lewis and each other for further instruction.

Lewis ran from his podium, and ducked into the small tunnel where Beckett was sitting. "Lord Beckett," he cried, "they've started to sing, sir."

Beckett smirked, "Finally." He gave Lewis a curt nod, which was spotted by the executioner, who made his way over to the lever, and pulled.

The coin slipped from the boy's lifeless hand and fell to the floor below. The moment it touched the ground, it was as though a curse had been released upon the world.

Off in the distance, on the outskirts of the rocks of Port Royal, where the three skeletons once hung was a battered sign. It used to read "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. With the wind, sand and tide eroding it over the years, it now read "Hope."


	48. Chapter 49

Meanwhile, out in another corner of the world, another song was being sung. The fog continued to rise high above the small huts and buildings of Singapore. A small boat paddled through the stream beneath the walkways, cloaked in the mist. Elizabeth Swann sang as she rowed, her head bowed under a large hat."...The bell has been raised from its watery gravel hear its supuichral tone? A call to all, pay heed the squall..." she paused for a moment, and quickly looked above her, where Mercer and several British Navy soldiers marched over the bridge above. She shifted slightly, and continued to sing. "...and turn your sails toward home!... Yo ho, all together, hoist the colours high." She rowed to the small dock at the end of the stream, and cast a rope around a small piece of the wooden beam. The wooden planks creaked slightly as she stepped onto the dock. "Yo ho, thieves and-"

"-and beggar, never say we die!" a man said, shocking Elizabeth slightly, She regained her composure as the men and his cronies moved forward. "A dangerous song to be ginning for any one ignorant of its meaning. Particularly a woman" he paused, "particularly a woman alone."

Elizabeth looked to her right, as Barbossa silently descended the stone steps. "And what makes ye think she's alone?" he said, his voice menacing.

The man turned to Barbossa, "You protect her?"

From behind, Elizabeth pulled out a small knife and placed it against the mans neck. "And what makes you think I need protecting?" she asked, resting her head on his neck, sorely tempted to run the blade across his neck. Behind her, the man's two guards drew their pistols, aiming them at Elizabeth's head.

Barbossa tried to hide his grin. She had changed into an entirely different woman from the one he'd abducted from Port Royal a few years ago. He addressed the man, "You're master's expectin' us." He then turned to Elizabeth, " and an unexpected death would cast a slight pall on our meetin'."

Elizabeth looked at Barbossa, before slowly moving the knife from the man's throat, and releasing him from her grip.

Suddenly, they heard a man with a British accent yelling orders, and the sounds of feet marching. The group quickly pressed themselves into the wall behind them, making no sound. From the bridge above, a group of soldiers passed by, not seeing them through the mist.

Quietly, the man led Elizabeth and Barbossa into a passageway below.

Meanwhile, a little way down the stream were Pintel, Ragetti, Marty, Cotton Groves, and Gibbs, all with coconut shells strapped to their heads like helmets. Bamboo straws hung in their mouths, allowing them to breathe as they walked under the water of the stream, undetected.

They swam a few feet further until they were positioned under one of the bridges. A group of soldiers passed over them, and bringing up the rear was a wooden cart, pushed by Tia Dalma. Cotton's parrot sat on the rail of the cart, and with a chip said "Steady as she goes." Jack the Monkey began to turn a crank on a music box, muffling the sounds of the pirates below, who sawed through the grating.

As they were being led to the site of their meeting, Elizabeth spoke to Barbossa. "Have you heard anything from Will?" she asked, as they rounded a corner.

"I trust young Turner to acquire the charts," he replied, avoiding the question. "And you to remember your place the presence of Captain Sao Feng," he reminded her.

Elizabeth's jaw was set, "Is he that terrifying?" she asked, looking straight ahead.

Barbossa grinned, "He's much like myself, but absent my merciful nature and sense of fair play."

Elizabeth continued to look forward, but inside, her stomach was turning. Barbossa possessed a small quantity of those two things, and those were what made him bearable and redeemable. If Sao Feng had none, they were going to be in big trouble.

They paused outside of a large, circular wooden door, painted red. The man leading them knocked rhythmically, and one of the panels slid open. "Hoi" the man said, and the doors were swung open by a pair of guards.

Elizabeth paused before allowing herself to be led inside. She paused as she entered, scanning the sight in front of her.

Meanwhile, underneath the bridge, the crew of the Pearl and Groves had managed to saw through the grate. "We're through!" Gibbs said, "Make ready!" He pulled at the grate and it came off.

Gibbs pushed himself through first and they began to crawl, single file, through the small tunnel.

Before they were allowed to step foot into Sao Feng's hideout, Elizabeth and Barbossa were subject to a search. Barbossa removed his two pistols and his sword, placing them in Tai Huong's outstretched hands. Hung passed them along to another guard.

Elizabeth stepped forward, ready to make her way through, but before she could, Hung held up a hand to stop her. He turned to Barbossa, "You think that because she is a woman, we would not suspect her treachery?" he asked, clearly still annoyed by her threat earlier. He turned to Elizabeth. "Remove, please."

Barbossa smiled, "Well, when you put it that way..." he turned to Elizabeth, who was clearly annoyed.

She removed her hat and outer coat, throwing them in the hands of a nearby worker, revealing a leather harness strapped with guns. She placed them on the table, before pulling out a small bomb form her pocket and tossing it onto the table as well. She was about to step forward before thinking better of it, and stuck a hand up the back of her shirt, pulling out a heavy cannon. This too, was placed on the table. She turned to Barbossaa, who merely smiled at her innocent shrug. She made to step forward once more, but Huang held out his hand again. "Remove please," he said, smiling slyly.

Elizabeth's jaw dropped as she looked down at her clothes, before pulling her pants off and throwing them roughly in the face of the man who was holding her jacket.

Huang smiled and turned around, moving the curtain behind him, and allowing them to follow him through the area.

Elizabeth tugged at the bottom of her dress, looking around at the people in the various tubs. While the room was filled with copious amounts of smoke, she spotted a man with barnacles on his face sitting in a tub, the woman behind him splashing him with leaves soaked in water. One of the other men in the tub -also covered in barnacles -turned to look at her, his neck cracking. Elizabeth quickly looked up in front of her.

The man leading them moved to the side, and she stood by Barbossa. In front of them, standing in the smoke was a man. His back was turned to them, and his arms were outstretched as his two female dressers robed him. His head was shaven and a tattoo covered the majority of it.

He turned to face them, and Elizabeth was surprised to see the scars that marred the left side of his face. His black beard hung down to his chest, which was wrapped in finely embroidered silks. Barbossa bowed, his arms outreached. Elizabeth, however, continued to stare boldly at Sao Feng, until Barbossa nudged her, forcing her to bow as well. "Captain Barbossa. Welcome to Singapore," he said, greeting them. He sniffed a piece of red silk and turned to the servant on his right, "more steam."

She nodded and pulled at one of the ropes.

One floor below, a row of small wooden planks spun around rapidly, alerting the workers below. A man began to yell out orders, while another tugged on a similar wooden string, which emitted more steam from a burner. It rose upwards and through the cracks, into Sao Feng's room above.

Pintel nodded to Marty and Gibbs, who crept alongside, sticking close to the wall. They peered into the room, and spotted two men who were lifting some wooden planks on their shoulder. Suddenly a large figure emerged from the left. A huge man, with a stomach the size of the sea passed by. He was heavily armoured, and paid them no attention, stalking off. His hulking figure made the ground shake, as he lumbered off to the right.

Gibbs gulped. This mission had better be worth the trouble they were about to get in. Pintel, having spotted the man, quickly spun on his heel, ready to scurry to the back of the line. Gibbs quickly grasped the mans shoulder, and pulled him in. "There'll be none of that," he whispered. "IF things dont go the way we want 'em, then we're the only chance they've got," he replied, as he looked up through the cracks of the ceiling. He pushed Pintel back to the front of the line, where they watched the large man shovel some coal into a burner, which emitted more smoke.

Back on the top floor, Sao Feng moved closer to Barbossa, so he could see them through the steam. "I understand you have a request to make of me?" he asked, giving Barbossa a small grin.

Barbossa nodded in return. "More of a proposal to put to ye. I have a venture underway and happen to find myself in need of a ship and a crew," he said smoothly.

Sao Feng nodded, "And the Dragon which you were so adamant on commandeering has returned to Mistress Ching's fleet, correct?"

Elizabeth was surprised. The moment they had planned out their venture to the Locker, Mistress Ching had ordered her crew to bring back the Dragon. Charlotte's decision to abandon post as she helped Will locate Jack had finally reached her ears. She didn't care where Charlotte had gone, but had no other desire than to have the crown jewel fo her fleet returned to her possession. Groves was annoyed, as this inconvenienced the group further. It was Elizabeth's idea to use the need for a ship and a crew as a pretense to get a meeting with Sao if Feng knew the Dragon was back with Mistress Ching, perhaps he'd be amenable to the idea of giving them what they needed. It also legitimized their story.

Barbossa simply nodded, "Aye."

Sao Feng scratched his head with his long black nails, as he backed away from them. "This is an odd coincidence," he muttered.

"Because you happen to have a ship and a crew you don't need?" Elizabeth spoke, from behind Barbossa, who turned to give her a look that read "shut up now."

Sao Feng stopped scraping his head, "No." He turned to his right and walked slowly towards an old man. "Because earlier this day, not far from here, a thief broke into my most revered uncle's temple, and tried to make off with these." He paused and grabbed a roll of wooden charts from the man's hands. "The navigational charts." He looked at the pair, who exchanged a worried glance. "The route to the farthest gate," he tossed the charts sharply at Huang, who caught them, his eyes trained on Elizabeth and Barbossa. "Wouldn't it be amazing if this venture of your took you to the world beyond this one?" he finished with a smile.

Barbossa mimicked Feng's grin. "It would.. strain credulity at that..." he said, faltering.

Sao Feng paused, considering them for a moment. He knew they weren't about to break, so he turned to the left, and jerked his head. The two men who were standing on either side of the tub, pulled upwards on the piece of bamboo between them.

A figure was pulled out of the water, his back hair in his face. As he shook his head, spraying water everywhere, Elizabeth and Barbossa realized it was Will. He coughed as spluttered, having he'd his breath for far longer than he thought he could have.

Barbossa backed away slightly, while Elizabeth's face morphed into one of worry. But the pair remained silent.

Sao Feng walked towards Will, who tried to escape, but was held in place. "This is the thief. Is his face familiar to you?" he asked. Barbossa and Elizabeth shook their heads quickly, knowing that the mission was now at stake. Sao Feng quickly pulled out a small wooden stake, "then I guess he has no further need for it." He turned quickly, ready to slice Will's face open. Will's eyes widened as the stake came close to him.

"No" Elizabeth gasped, her hands covering her face the moment she opened her mouth. Barbossa closed his eyes, knowing she'd just costed them the mission and their lives.

Feng slowly turned back to them, smirking. Behind him, Will looked at Elizabeth, who continued to stare at Feng until he lowered the dagger, and tucked it into his belt.

He slowly moved towards them. From behind, Will let out a small sigh of relief. "So, you come into my city and betray my hospitality." He said, his voice getting angrier, as he considered the two.

"Sao Feng," Barbossa began, as Elizabeth moved around his back to his left side. "I assure you I had no idea-"

"That he would get caught!" Sao Feng yelled Barbossa's face. From behind, the men began to exit their hot tubs, and encircled the pair, making it clear they weren't going to get away. Feng turned away, "you intend to attempt a voyage to Davy Jones' Locker. But I cannot help but wonder, why?" he asked, looking at them over his shoulder, as he returned to his steam room.

Barbossa was silent, before he tossed a coin, which whistled through the air as Sao Feng caught it. He blew on it quickly, before raising it to his ear, where it continued to make a small whistling noise. As he listened, his face morphed from one of anger to one of confusion.

"The song has been sung," Barbossa said, stepping forward. "The time is upon us. We must convene the Brethren Court." Sao Feng gritted his teeth as Barbossa continued. "As one of the nine pirate lords, you must honour the call." Feng looked down at the coin in his hand, and balled into into his fist.

"More steam," he said, unsure how to respond to Barbossa's explanation of his duties. The woman next to him pulled on the lever once more, forcing the wooden planks below to spin.

Cotton stared at the planks as the spun, before pointing to Pintel, Ragetti, and Marty, how shuffled around the room, to fill the stations of the men they'd knocked out.

Above, Barbossa looked slightly concerned. Feng stared down at the cracks in the floor, as he sniffed the red silk. He turned quickly to the woman and yelled, "more steam!"

She nodded, and pulled at the string once more. Cotton pulled on the other string, while Marty hit the large man in the face with a shovel. The steam rolled up in curtains from the floor as Sao Feng paced. "There is a price on all our heads, it is true. Since it seems that the only way a pirate can turn a profit anymore is by betraying other pirates..." he said, looking at Will, Barbossa, and Elizabeth in turn.

Below, Groves unrolled a large piece of cloth which was filled with guns, swords and knives. The pirates began to strap themselves with weapons."Wait for the signal," Gibbs said.

Above, Barbossa spoke, "the first Brethren Court gave us rule of the seas. That rule has been challenged by Lord Cutler Beckett."

"Against the East India Trading Company, what value is the Brethren Court? What can any of us do?" Sao Fen shot back, staring down at Barbossa from his dais.

"You can fight!" Elizabeth cried, stepping forward from her spot behind Barbossa. Will and Barbossa shot her warning looks, but she ignored them. She had eyes and anger only for Sao Feng. As she moved closer to him, one of the guards behind attempted to grab her, "get off of me," she said, shaking his hand off of her. "You are Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore! Would you have that era come to an end on your watch? The most notorious pirates form around the world are uniting against our enemy, and yet you sit here cowering in you bath water!" she finished angrily. She was annoyed that no one was considering what they had lost. While everyone else was concerned with Jack, and Will had eyes only for the Pearl, she was worried for Charlotte, who's only fault was that she continued to come to Elizabeth's rescue. Now it was her turn, and she was not going to let her best friend -her sister -down.

Sao Feng considered her for a moment... "Elizabeth Swann, there's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?" He drew closer, and whispered "and the eye does not go wanting." From the side, Will gave him a look of pure disgust. Elizabeth moved back, until she was beside Barbossa once more. "But i cannot help but notice, you have failed to answer my question. What is it you seek in Davy Jones' locker?"

From the side Will spoke up, "Jack Sparrow." The two women on either side of Sao Feng, covered their mouths and giggled, as he looked at them angrily. "He's one of the pirate lords," Will continued.

"And Charlotte Vaughan," Elizabeth added, shooting Will a look of contempt.

Sao Feng's head jerked up at this, and Elizabeth knew she had struck a nerve. "Charlotte Vaughan..." he said. "I know her... far to smart to have fallen for the likes of Jack Sparrow. She is worth saving... but Sparrow." Here his voice returned sharply, as he ran a hand along the scars on the side of his face. "T he only reason I would want Jack Sparrow returned from the land of the dead... is so i can send him back myself!" he kicked a large table on the side of the room over.

Form behind, Barbossa, marched up to him. Sao Feng turned to look at him. "Jack Sparrow holds one of the nine pieces of eight. He failed to pass it on to a successor before he died. So we need him back," Barbossa explained.

As Barbossa spoke, Sao Feng looked around the room, before his eyes spotted a man, two feet away, who's ink tattoo began to run. He squinted, "so you admit, you have deceived me." Barbossa was confused. "Weapons!" Sao Feng cried, as he unsheathed his stake once again. His henchmen produced weapons as well, surrounding Barbossa, Will, and Elizabeth.

From below, Gibbs turned to the others. "Weapons." They quickly unsheathed the swords and guns strapped around them and positioned themselves under Barbossa and Elizabeth, who were outnumbered and empty-handed.

"Sao Feng, I assure you our intentions are strictly honourable," Barbossa said, as the swords made their way through the cracks of the floorboards and into Barbossa and Elizabeth's outstretched hands.

Sao Feng grabbed the man with the fake tattoo, and pressed the stake to his neck. "Drop your weapons or i kill the man!" he yelled at Barbossa.

"Kill him, he's not our man," Barbossa replied, unsure if this was a trick or just Sao Feng getting old.

Sao Feng looked at them carefully before Will spoke, "If he's not with you, and he's not with us, then who's he with?"

Suddenly, the large red door burst down and members of the East India Trading Company ran into the room, firing.

The pirates quickly united and began to fight against the soldiers. Elizabeth hacked her way through the crowd, until she could spot Will, who'd just broken one arm free from the pole. "Will!" she called, tossing him the other sword. The pair continued to fight as they reached the door that led out into the alley. Mercer marched forward, aiming his pistol at Elizabeth, who's back was turned. Will spotted him, and pulled her out of the way as Mercer fired, the bullet buried itself in the forehead of one of Feng's servants.

The pirates poured out into the street, guns firing in all directions and people ran for cover. The EITC soldiers formed a small firing squad, which began to rain the citizens of Singapore with bullets. Tia's cart was parked directly behind them, and as the little music box Jack had wound up stopped, it blew up, causing the EITC soldiers to fly into the water.

Will made a beeline for Feng as Elizabeth tried to find Barbossa. Will stabbed Sao Feng's opponent from the EITC before he pinned Feng against the wall. From behind them, Mercer paused, overhearing the conversation.

"It is an odd coincidence that the EITC find me the day you show up in Singapore," he said angrily.

"It is coincidence only," Will replied, placing a knife against Feng's throat." I you want to make a deal with Beckett you need what I offer."

Sao Feng's frown turned to a grin, "You cross Barbossa, you cross Charlotte Vaughan, and you're willing to cross Jack Sparrow. Why should I expect any better?" he asked.

In his gut, Will knew he wasn't loyal, but he needed Jack, Charlotte and the Pearl, and to get them, he needed a ship and those charts. "I need the Black Pearl to free my father," he moved the knife away, "you're helping me to get it."

Sao Feng nodded, and gave Will what he needed, the maps, a ship, and a crew. Will was led by Tai Huang (who held the maps) and his men to the docks, where he met up with Barbossa and Elizabeth.

"You got the charts?" Barbossa asked as soon as he spotted Turner.

"And better yet, a ship and a crew" he nodded to Huang, a few steps ahead.

"Where's Sao Feng," Elizabeth asked.

"He'll cover our escape, and meet us at Shipwreck Cove," Will replied, keeping his plan close to the vest.

"This way, be quick!" shouted Huang, who led them into a nearby passage.

As Huang steered the small ship out of the bay of Singapore, Elizabeth approached Tia, who watched as fires blazed along the buildings lining the shore of the water. "There's no place left for Sao Feng to cower. Do you think he will honour the call?"

Tia Dalma shrugged slightly, "I cannot say. There is an evil on these seas that even the most staunch and bloodthirsty pirates have come to fear."


	49. Chapter 50

**HEAD'S UP! I added another chapter between chapter's 46 (the one where they visit Tia Dalma) and 47 (which begins with the opening scene of AWE).**

 **I also learned how to put a break in a chapter. It's been five years on this website, and I still have no clue how anything works. I don't even know what the whole views and visitors thing means when I'm looking at the graph of my stories. If anyone knows, please explain it to me, cause I still don't get it.**

Meanwhile, across the seas in another part of the world, the Flying Dutchman wreaked havoc on the behalf of the EITC. Since obtaining the heart, Beckett had sent the Flying Dutchman to do its bidding, and it had already reduced several of the seas most fearsome ships into complete ash.

Mr. Mercer was filling Beckett in on the information he had obtained from the agent they had planted in Singapore a few weeks earlier. As he spoke, he watched Beckett flip a coin into the air, before letting it clatter upon the desk. He slammed his hand upon it and spoke, "A piece of eight, nine of them you say?" he asked Mercer, who nodded.

"Our new friend in Singapore was very specific, nine pieces of eight." He was growing more accustomed to the strange names the pirates had bestowed upon things. They certainly never failed a chance to be dramatic and mysterious.

"What's the significance of that, I wonder?" Beckett mused around.

"Does it matter? There's nothing can hold against the armada, not with the Flying Dutchman at the lead" Mercer replied, sounding a little bored.

Beckett detected this but resolved to ignore it. "Nothing that we know of. Did your friend happen to mention where the Brethren Court are meeting?" Beckett asked.

"He was mum on that, sir," Mercer replied, upset that he had not been able to coax the answer from his sources or the woman he'd killed.

"Well then, he knows the value of information. Best keep this between ourselves. Don't want anyone running of to Singapore, now do we?" Beckett replied, giving a slight nod to Governor Swann, who was in the corner signing a stack of papers.

Just then, Admiral Norrington appeared at the door. "You summoned me, Lord Beckett" he said, a slight tinge of boredom was attached to his voice. He'd clearly rather be anywhere but here.

"Yes, I have several documents for you to go through. Warrants for arrests, of course," Lord Beckett replied.

Governor Swann placed his pen down, looking at his assistant. "No more requisition orders?" He asked, slightly excited at the prospect of going home. He'd been in the office for hours, signing stacks and stacks of papers, not bothering to look at them.

"No sir" replied the assistant, before grabbing a stack of documents on the other table and placing them in front of the Governor. "Executions."

The Governor's eyes widened over the top of the stack, where he spotted Norrington looking back at him. The pair had been meeting in secret for the past few months, discussing and formulating plans to kill both Jones and Beckett.

Beckett ignored the exchange, and turned to Mercer. "The Brethren know they face extinction. All that remains is for them to decide where they make their final stand."

* * *

In the middle of the ocean, the small ship weaved its way through icebergs. The ship itself was practically frozen, the sails barely rippling in the wind. Jack the Monkey was huddled up next to Pintel and Ragetti, who were both shivering in cold.

"No one said anything about the cold," Pintel said, as he rubbed his hands together. Or, tried to. They were both frozen.

"There must be a good reason for our suffering," Ragetti replied, as he rocked back and forth on the small bench.

They both turned to look at Tia, who was wearing a dress with a thick cloak of fur over the top. "Why don't that obeah woman bring back Jack and Charlotte, the same way she brought back Barbossa?" Pintel asked.

Tia, no bothering to turn around, grimaced. "Because Barbossa was only dead. Charlotte and Jack are taken, body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can bring upon himself. Stretching on forever." She turned to the rest of the ship, who'd been listening to her. "That's what awaits at Davy Jones's locker," she replied, her voice cracking slightly. Discussing the Locker had clearly made Tia somewhat emotional.

The others remained silent, chewing on her words until Ragetti spoke, "I knew there was a good reason."

On the other side of the ship, stood Will and Tai Huang, bent over the charts with interest. From beside them, one of Huang's men was nursing a frozen foot. As he rubbed his big toe, it snapped off. "Oh," the man whimpered, looking from the stump of his toe, to the actual toe in his hand. It wasn't bleeding at all, the blood had stopped flowing completely.

"Nothing here is set," Will said, as he spun one of the panels of the map around. "These can't be as accurate as modern charts." He'd seen hundreds of thousands of maps, some flat and some round and spinning, but nothing that was both flat and spun around.

Tai Huang grinned, "No. but it leads to more places," he replied with a coy smile.

Will continued to turn the panels at random, until he spotted something. The small black lines of ink that bordered the panels were now aligned with the panel beneath it. "Over the edge and over again," he murmured, wondering what that could possibly mean. He turned the panel a little more, and new words formed, "Sunrise sets, flash of green..." from his left he spotted Barbossa, who'd moved in closer, clearly listening in. "Do you care to interpret, Captain Barbossa?" he asked.

Berbossa, who was staring out at the sea, grinned. "Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?" he asked.

Gibbs smirked. "i reckon I seen my fair share. It happens on rare occasion. At the last glimpse of sunset, a green flash of light shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives without seeing it, some claim to have seen it that ain't. Some say..." his voice trailed off.

"It signals when a soul comes back to this world, from the dead!" Pintel said, attempting to sound scary and mysterious. He spotted Gibbs glaring at him, annoyed that he had taken his dramatic reveal away. "Sorry," Pintel said, looking back down.

Barbossa turned to Will, "Trust me, young Master Turner, it's not gettin' to the land of the dead thats the problem. It's gettin' back."

Will looked slightly frightened, and Barbossa turned back to the sea, where he gently steered the ship between two huge walls of ice, plunging them into pure darkness.

* * *

Aboard the Dutchman, Beckett and Mercer surveyed the damage the ship had done to a pirate vessel in the distance. "Bloody hell, there's nothing left," Beckett said, peering at the smouldering wreckage through his telescope.

"Jones is a loose cannon sir," Mercer muttered as he took the telescope from Beckett.

"Fetch the chest," Beckett ordered as made to walk away.

"And the Governor," Mercer said, forcing Beckett to halt. "He's been asking questions. About the heart."

Beckett looked worried, "Does he know?" he asked. Mercer gave him a look that read, _No, but when he does, he will probably aim to destroy it._ Beckett nodded, "Then perhaps his usefulness has run its course."

From the corner of his eye, he spotted several longboats rowing towards the Dutchman. The Admiral and Governor were in one of them, chatting away, while shooting furtive looks up at the grimy ship.

In the Dutchman's quarters, Jones hammered away mournfully at his organ. On the side of the organ, lay a small, silver, heart-shaped locket. It's mechanical gears whirled, playing alongside its owner. Jones paused, and picked up the locket with a tentacle. The tune matched the one he was playing perfectly. He paused, reminiscing on memories from long ago. As he stared at the locket, a single tear crawled from his eye, down his cheek, where it was quickly picked up by a tentacle. Jones looked at it for a moment, before his face hardened with anger.

Outside of the ship, several soldiers had planted themselves around the deck, where they were quickly met by Jones's angry crewmen. It took all of their courage not to run away, as the cursed pirates bared down upon them.

"Steady men," Norrington said as he and the Governor marched down the deck. Jones emerged from the back of the crew, pausing to look at Norrington. "Go! All of you!" he demanded, staring the soldiers in the eyes. He spotted two men behind Norrington carrying a small, black, iron chest. From within its depths, Jones heard his heart beating, wanting to be put back in its rightful place. "And take that infernal thing with you! I will not have it on my ship!" he yelled angrily.

"I'm sorry to hear that, because I will" Beckett replied silkily, from behind Norrington. "Because it seems to be the only way to ensure that this ship do as directed by the company. We need prisoners to interrogate, which tends to work when they're alive" he added, staring out at the sea, where the ship continued to burn.

"The Dutchman sails as its captain commands," Davy Jones replied, eyeing Beckett with disease.

"And it's captain will sail it, as commanded!' Beckett replied forcefully. Jones backed away slightly, causing Beckett to grin. "I thought you would have learned that when I ordered you to kill your pet. This is no longer your world, Jones. The immaterial has become... immaterial." He paused, letting Jones absorb his words. "Admiral!" he barked.

Norrington marched forward, the men with the chest following closely behind. They went to the room containing Jones's organ, and placed the chest on a table. Five men surrounded it. "Charge bayonets!" Norrington ordered, and the men quickly pointed their bayonets directly at the heart, leaving a small inch of space between their knives and Jones's death.

Meanwhile, on the deck, Beckett and Jones were still arguing. "I thought you would have learned that when I ordered you to kill your... pet," Beckett replied, stepping toe-to-toe with Jones.

From behind, Governor Swann stepped forward as well. "Did you give those ships opportunity to surrender?" he asked, looking Jones in the eyes.

Jones smiled grimly, and turned back to Beckett. "We let them see us," he shrugged, "methinks that opportunity enough." The crew of the Dutchman laughed alongside their Captain.

Swann was furious. "My daughter could have been on any one of those ships!" he said, his face painted with worry and anger. Jones looked from Beckett to Swann, a small grin appearing on his face. "That alone should have been cause for restraint!" he yelled, at both Jones and Beckett. They were both the sources of his misery and unease.

"We need prisoners to interrogate. Which tends to work best when they're alive," Beckett interjected, his face remaining stoic.

"I am exterminating pirates as directed by the company!" Jones yelled in Beckett's face. He then turned to the Governor, stepping forward with a smirk. "And your daughter is dead. Pulled under with the Black Pearl by my pet." Jones allowed the Governor to have a moment for his words to sink in. "Did Lord Beckett not tell you that?" he added.

The Governor grabbed Beckett by his sleeve and spun him around to look at him. Beckett kept his eyes firmly on the planks of the deck. Swann, enraged by the pair of them, quickly made his way down the hall and to the chest. He ran into the room, and pushed aside the soldiers, grabbing the knife strapped to the bayonet. He turned towards the heart, dagger held high over his head, prepared to stab it.

"Governor!" cried Norrington, attempting to stop him.

The pair wrestled for a moment, as the Governor lost all sense of propriety. Tears streamed down his face as he fought against the Admiral. Norrington pleaded with the Governor, attempting to wrench the blade out of his hands. As their eyes met over the scuffle for the blade, the Governor spoke. "Did you know?" his voice cracked. Norrington looked confused. "She's dead. Elizabeth's dead." Governor Swann's voice trailed off as he began to cry.

Norrington stopped fighting against him. His mind spun a thousand times per second and he attempted to absorb this new piece of information. He quickly remembered his place, and the soldiers around them. He turned to the nearest one, "Withdraw Corporal," he ordered.

The man looked between the Governor, who continued to cry, and Norrington, unsure of what to do. "Leave!" Norrington yelled angrily.

The soldiers quickly moved their bayonets to their sides and marched out of the room.

The Governor had managed to pull himself together slightly, and fought against Norrington, who let his arms fall to his sides. "Let me go! Let me do this," the Governor said, turning towards the chest.

A rythmique stomp echoed through the room as Jones marched in, pushing the scrambling officers aside. His eyes were trained on the Governor, who was still holding tightly to the blade.

"Let him go," Jones barked at Norrington, who swiftly removed his gun from his belt.

"Stay back," he yelled, his voice overcome with emotion. He still had one hand wrapped tightly around the collar of the Governor's jacket. "Or I will kill you!" Norrington yelled.

Jones smirked, "And are ye prepared for what comes after?" he inquired, taking a few steps further into the room. He could see the heart beating away in the open chest. "When I carved that traitorous vessel from my body, I carved upon it a terrible 'gation." He paused, watching the eyes of the two men widen. Norrington released his hold on the Governor, his energies and focus trained on Jones. "If you stab my heart, yours must take its place." The Governor's dagger floated above the heart, as he watched it pulsate with disgust. "The crew are not bound to me," Jones continued. "They are bund to the Dutchman, and the Dutchman must have a Captain," he paused, as he bore down upon the Governor, "Will ye serve?"

The Governor shook his head, as sweat dripped down his temple. "No," he whispered, looking at Jones with pure fear. He made to stab the heart, when Norrington stopped him.

"Governor!" Beckett yelled, striding into the room, Mercer in his wake. "Your daughter is still alive."

The Governor and Norrington paused, looking at Beckett with mistrust. "What?" Swann asked.

"I saw her myself. In Singapore," Mercer interjected.

The Governor shook his head furiously. "No...no, it's not possible." Jones looked between the pair with intrigue. "You're all liars."

"No, Jones is merely cruel," Beckett said, nodding to the Captain, who shot him a dark look. "I am perhaps guilty of the sin of omission," he continued, drawing nearer to the two men. "For which I sincerely apologize," he added.

Norrington quickly turned back the Governor, his gun still held up. "Governor, there is still hope. Please," he said, nodding down to the dagger.

Swann eyed Beckett with rage, before giving Norrington the knife. He quickly marched away and before exiting the room, paused next to Beckett. "Our association is ended," he said, before leaving the room.

Beckett remained silent for a moment, contemplating his next moves. "You're dismissed, Captain" he said. Jones turned to look at him, before spinning on his heel and marching out as well.

Beckett then turned to Norrington. "Thank you Admiral," he said, indicating that he too ought to leave. As he walked by, Beckett held out his hand. Norrington paused, before taking out a set of keys, slapping them in Beckett's palm, and exiting.

"He's a sly one, that Jones," Mercer whispered into Beckett's ear. "Who's going to kill him, if they know they'll be goin'?" he asked.

Beckett walked forward. "I can order Admiral Norrington's silence. He'll obey, that's what he does."

"And the Governor?" Mercer asked.

"Yes," Beckett sighed. "Well every man should have secret he carries with him to the grave," he replied, closing the lid of the chest.


	50. Chapter 51

The Hai Peng was had reached the calmest of waters. The night sky, which was dotted with several thousand stars was reflected in the ocean, which were mirrored in the sky perfectly. To Elizabeth, it honestly felt as though they were sailing the night sky. Barbossa was at the helm, Jack the Monkey perched on his shoulder. His hands weren't on the wheel, as he let the ship continue to float straight ahead. The only noise amidst the silence were the creaks of the pulleys and wood. The sails were completely still, not even a ripple of wind moved across them.

On the other end of the ship, at the bow, Elizabeth started down at the water, looking at the stars. Will contemplated what to say to her, before approaching her tentatively. He knew why she was mad at him, but there wasn't anything he could do. He needed to save his father, and at the current time, that was his priority. Elizabeth had fallen to second place -and she knew.

"How long do we continue not talking?" he asked, coming up behind her.

Elizabeth refused to look at him. "Once we rescue Charlotte and Jack, everything will be fine," she said forcefully, her voice indicating that she was done with the conversation.

"I need to get-" Will began.

"The Pearl back for your father," Elizabeth huffed, turning to Will. "You're practically turning into a pirate. You only want to fight and help when there's something in it for you," she said, pointing at him accusingly.

Will sighed. "As if Jack has never done anything without being incentivized," he replied.

Elizabeth laughed, 'Jack's a pirate. That's what he does. You always said you weren't a pirate. But you are. And you're worse that he is. Jack always had a plan, yes it may have prioritized him over others, but at least everyone was relatively safe. You just care about yourself." She paused, "and until you can learn to move past that, we will continue to have these problems." She turned on her heel and walked off, leaving Will alone. He moved further into the bow, peering out over the water. His eyes widened as he looked ahead and he turned to speak to Barbossa, when Tia came into his path.

"For what we want most, there is a cost must be paid in the end." Will turned to look at her and spotted the heart-shaped locket on her chest. Suddenly he looked up at the horizon and ran back to Barbossa. "Barbossa! Ahead!"

Barbossa grinned, "Aye,w e're good and lost now." He said, laughing maniacally.

"Lost?" Elizabeth asked, from the railing.

"For certain you have to be lost to find the places can't be found. Elseway's everyone would know where it was," he responded.

"That does me absolutely no good right now," Elizabeth muttered under her breath, causing Gibbs to stifle a laugh.

"We're gaining speed!" Groves cried, as she ship lurched forward. He looked over the edge of the boat, where the water was moving forcefully.

"Aye!" Barbossa said, not bothering to hold the wheel.

"To stations! All hands, to stations! Hard to port, gather way!" Will ordered, as Huang's men ran out to follow them. The entire ship turned into a frenzy, as they attempted to slow the ship down.

"Nay!" Barbossa bellowed. "Belay that! Let her run straight and true!"

Pintel and Ragetti ran to the bow of the ship, the rest of the crew on their heels. Pintel spotted plumes of misty water floating upwards into the sky. That meant only one thing. "Blimey," Pintel said, staring ahead, wide-eyed.

The water was pushing the ship quickly as it fell off the edge of the World. The entire horizon was a waterfall, and there was no way to turn the ship back around.

"You've doomed us all!" Elizabeth cried, looking at Barbossa with anger.

He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Don't be so unkind. You may not survive to pass this way again and these be the last friendly words you'll hear."

Will turned to the men, "Tie her off!"

Tia Dalma stood on the side of the ship, by the railing, muttering a spell. "Malfaiteur en Tombeau, Chcher L'Esplanade, Dans I'Fond d'l'eau!" She tossed a few crab claws into the water, and grabbed ahold of the railing, knowing what was about to come.

"Hard to port!" Elizabeth cried once more.

Will turned to the others, "Hold on!" he yelled, gripping the railing as hard as he could.

Barbossa continued to laugh as the ship fell over the edge, plummeting them into the unknown.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the Locker, Charlotte had had enough.

She sat cross-legged on the small table by the wheel of the ship, watching Jack with distaste. She hummed to herself, "strike your colours, you bloomin' cockroaches... dead men tell no tales."

Jack was currently lying on the ship, muttering something up at the sky. Suddenly, he was jolted awake and began sniffing the deck. Charlotte made to get up, but then decided better of it. Occasionally Jack would slip into a full-on hallucination. And the shortage of people meant this was the only form of entertainment available to her. It annoyed her that Jack's memory and sanity was slowly slipping away, while she retained hers, much to her displeasure. It would have been a comfort and losing her mind as well. She found herself unable to lean into Jack's hallucinations, no matter how hard she tried - which was absolute torture. Jones had made sure of that. She would have been far better off mad and not knowing a thing, than being aware and unable to do anything. She continued to watch as Jack sniffed along the rail before stopping. "A peanut!" he cried.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Oh, what a delight. The peanut hallucination. Been a while since I last saw that one." She clapped her hands and moved to the edge of the table, wanting to get a closer seat to the madness. It would be prudent to mention that the pair had been in the Locker for an ambiguous amount of time, and were slowly starving due to the lack of food.

She watched with interest as Jack grabbed a plate, a knife and fork, and a napkin, which he tucked into his shirt. He settled himself down at the table, where she was sitting cross-legged. She watched as he put a "peanut" (it was just air) on the plate and stabbed it with the fork. He raised it to his mouth and was about to eat it when he dropped the fork, stood up, tossed the napkin aside and pulled out his pistol, and pretended to fire it. He moved around and grabbed the "peanut" and with a glare stared at the empty chair. "My peanut," he said, shoving it in his mouth.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and groaned as he marched around the ship. "All hands slackened braces!"

He quickly moved somewhere else and yelled, "Aye captain, slackened braces!"

"Step lively! With a will!" he cried, moving elsewhere.

"Man the yards, you filthy toads!" he ordered, as he swung from a rope.

"Haul the sheets, sensibly boys!" Jack cried.

Suddenly, he stopped to look down at the air by the cannon. "What say you about the condition of this tack line?"

"It be proper to my eye, sir," Jack replied in a meek voice.

"Proper! It is neither proper nor suitable, sir, it is neither acceptable nor adequate. It is in obvious fact, an abomination," Jack yelled, berating the air. Charlotte hopped off the table and started towards him.

"Begging you pardon sir, but perhaps if you gave the men another chance.." he replied meekly.

"Shall I?" Jack asked, before stabbing the air with his sword. "That sort of thinking got us into this mess." He turned back to the deck of the ship, and came face-to-face with Charlotte. "It will have to be redone, all of it! And let that serve as a lesson to the lot of you! Doldrums sir, has the whole crew on edge. I have absolutely no sympathy for any of you fecculant maggots. And no patience to pretend otherwise. Gentlemen, I wash my hands of this weirdness!" Jack barked in her face.

Charlotte, knowing full-well what he was going to do, decided to give Jack a more violent awakening from his hallucination. So, she slapped him.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing his hand on his face, his sword dropping to the deck. He quickly jumped back and looked around the deck, shocked. "Love, where are we?" he asked.

"The Locker, Jack. Still in the goddamn Locker," she replied dully, leaning back on the rail. Despite that she rarely carried her sword, daggers, pistols and knives strapped around her body, she still felt heavy and tired.

"Oh, yeah... forgot about that..." he muttered.

Charlotte threw her hands into the air. "Obviously you've forgotten, but I haven't!" she yelled, turning around. "I'm not even supposed to be here," she grumbled.

"I didn't ask you to come with me," Jack said. "Although us being alone was quite nice in the beginning," he added under his breath. Charlotte smacked him again, and Jack shook his head. "I don't know what you want from me, but I am leaving." He stepped onto the railing and grabbed ahold of one of the ropes.

"Good!" Charlotte yelled. "Go! You're the one that got yourself into this mess in the first place!"

Jack smirked, "Are you sure its me that you're mad at, love?" he asked, as swung down off the ship.

Charlotte stared at the rope, before grabbing Jack's abandoned sword and slicing at the rope, forcing Jack to fall the last several feet. He landed with a thump on the plain white ground, staring up at the rail of the ship, where Charlotte came into view. He laid there for a second, before swiftly moving to the side, as she threw his sword down after him. It embedded itself in the ground, quivering from blade to hilt, right where his head had been. "I'm pretty sure it's you I'm mad at!" she yelled, before stomping back into the captain's quarters to lie down.

* * *

Jack wandered around on the ground for a moment, unsure of his next move. He and Charlotte rarely fought and when they did, it usually took a trip in the bed or two to get over the problem. But this was different. She seemed so much more angry that he could have imagined, and the slightest thing would set her off. He sucked on a finger before raising it in the air, spinning in several directions. "No wind... of course there's no bloody wind." He paused closing his eyes, and relaxing for a moment. "On my soul I do swear, not a gust, a whisper, a tiny miniature lick." he murmured, walking by the ship. He wandered off a little further before coming to a complete halt in his strut away from Charlotte. He sniffed the air for a second, before glancing around him. Just then, he spotted it a few feet away. A white rock.

Curious, he picked it up, before tossing it as far into the distance as he could. He then spun on his heel and sauntered away.

He began to hallucinate further. At one point, he thought he was fighting with Turner about his decision to become a eunuch. "Yes, I know, but why would he do that? Well, because he's a lummox isn't he?" At another, he believed he was in a magical land, with red hair and strange clothes, having tea with a talking rabbit, and a very rude blonde girl, who'd just disrespected all of them. "And we'll have a magnificent garden party and you're not invited" he giggled, before coming to an abrupt stop.

He turned on his heel once more, and saw it again. The rock had returned. He glared at it for a moment, "shoo!" he said, flailing his arms at it. He turned away before quickly turning back again, to see if it had moved. Sighing, he bent down to pick the rock up again. He paused, unsure of what to do, before his hunger and curiosity won over. He licked the rock, much to his immediate regret, and pulled disgusted face, before lobbing it as far as he could.

"Now we're being followed by rocks. Never had that before," he muttered, walking a little further before spotting a rope a few feet away. "Oh, a rope!" he said, giving it a little tug and watching it slither down into a pool at his feet. He grinned.

A few minutes later, he'd formulated a plan. He quickly used the rope to pull himself back up onto the ship, before heading down to find Charlotte. "I have an idea, i have an idea," he sang as he burst into their room.

Charlotte was curled underneath the covers, completely deep asleep. He wandered over and threw the sheets off of her. "What in the devil do you want, Jack!" she snarled back at him, as he dangled the sheets out of her reach.

"Up we go, I have a plan" he sang, grabbing her arm and pulling her off of the bed.

Charlotte groaned as she let herself be dragged up to the deck for a another round of brain-melting stupidity. Jack quickly turned back to her, clearly excited by his idea. "I'm going to tie the rope around the bow of the ship," he mimed tying the rope, "and pull it to the ocean" he said, waving his arms at the bare horizon.

Charlotte buried her face in her hands as she let out a groan. "You idiot! That's what you woke me up for?" She grabbed Jack and spun him so he could look at the horizon. "There's nothing there Jack! It's all land. Never-ending land." She paused letting that sink in, Jack's grin slowly disappeared from his face. "We looked everywhere, there was no water, there was no way to get us out of here. We are stuck!"

Jack placed his hands on her shoulders, "Calm down. Take a deep breath. We're going to figure something out."

Charlotte shook her head. "Fine. Tie the rope."

* * *

A few moments later, the pair were tugging on the rope as they tried to pull the ship along the dry ground. "Pull harder!" Jack said, between strained teeth.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Charlotte replied, as she tugged harder at the rope. The ship looked down at them both, unmoving.

"This is hopeless," Jack said, tossing the rope back and laying down on the ground.

Charlotte laid beside him, "My point exactly."

Jack rolled over on her side to look at her. "What do we do now?' he asked.

"Sleep," Charlotte replied, rolling into Jack's arms and closing her eyes. Jack remained wide-eyed for a moment, before letting his tiredness wash over him.

Just then, he woke up with a start as he began to feel a little, colder. He opened one eye, and his ears perked up. There was a dull creaking sound coming from somewhere. He quickly shook Charlotte awake and the pair sat up. "What's going on?" she asked, looking at Jack with concern, hoping he wasn't having another one of his hallucinations.

They looked at each other, before a shadow crawled over them.

 _That's odd. There's never been a single shadow here. There's not even a Sun here!_ Charlotte thought to herself.

Just then, Jack grabbed her chin and forced her to look at the Pearl. "It's- it's moving!" she cried. The pair quickly stood up, not wanting to be crushed by the ship. "The crabs," she said, pointing to the bottom of the ship, where thousands of crabs had pushed the ship along the dry cracked ground.

The pair stood in shock and disbelief as the ship passed them by. Charlotte quickly grabbed Jack's arm, "Let's go before we're stuck here forever!"

The pair made a mad dash for the ship. It looks like hope hadn't been abandoned after all.


	51. Chapter 52

After a moment of plunging into complete darkness, the crew gasped as they fell to the bottom of the waterfall. The water was ice cold and they were pushed down by the power of the falls. The ship had broken on impact, sending the crew in every direction possible. Suddenly, the pressure on top of them began too fade and they were able to swim towards the surface. As they broke free, their eyes winced in pain. The sharp transition from darkness to light was incredibly uncomfortable.

"This way!" Huang yelled, swimming towards the land. The crew moved furiously, unsure of what else may be lurking in the crystal clear water.

The rubble of the Hai Peng washed up on to the shore along with the crew. As they clambered onto the beach, they looked around. They couldn't feel any type of weather, and the light seemed to be coming from nowhere. The air was ... strange. It felt like there wasn't any air, yet the crew was breathing perfectly fine. It felt like there was just enough air for everyone.

Gibbs looked at the sand dunes with sadness, before casting a glance up at the sky. "This truly is a godforsaken place," he muttered darkly.

Elizabeth looked around. There weren't any tracks on the sand at all. It was completely smooth, and the lack of wind made her wonder where Jones's victims were. "I don't see Charlotte or Jack. I don't see anyone" she sighed, hoping that Charlotte would run out of somewhere, yelling to the top of her lungs. The land was vast and they had no idea what their bearings were, given that there was nothing to tie them to.

"They're here," Barbossa said, as he looked around the Locker with disgust. "Davy Jones never once gave up that what he took." He wouldn't ever admit it but for a brief moment, he felt sorry for Jack Sparrow. No man, especially one who's first love was the sea, should be forced to stay on land forever.

Will was losing his patience with Barbossa. He wasn't too concerned for Charlotte or Jack, but would have liked to see the Pearl. That ship would be their ticked out of the Locker, and his leverage to secure his father's freedom. The fact that it wasn't anywhere to be seen was a complete let-down. "It doesn't matter, we're trapped here by your doing, no different that Jack and Charlotte," Will spat at Barbossa.

Jack the Monkey clung to Sao Feng's maps and watched with intrigue as several white crabs scuttled towards Tia, disappearing under her dress. Tia, meanwhile, looked around the tops of the dunes, a small smile playing on her lips, as she petted a small crab. "They are closer than you think," she replied, looking pointedly at the largest of the dunes.

The crew watched in shock and amazement as the sails and mast of the Pearl appeared over the edge of the dune. It's sails were completely down, the black flag with its white skull and crossed swords hung high in the air.

Standing at the top of the mast, looking straight down at the shore, were Jack and Charlotte. He turned to her, "I told you it was that way" Jack said, turning to Charlotte with a grin.

She smirked, "Nobody likes a know-it-all, Jack." She looked towards the right, and spotted a small cluster of people, amidst the splinters of what was most likely a small ship. "Jack!" she yelled, forcing him to look to the others. "Is that ...?" her voice trailed off as she attempted to discern the faces of the figures in the distance.

"It can't be," Jack replied looking directly at the man with the feathered Captain's hat. "Not possible" he murmured.

"Maybe I've gone mad as well," Charlotte replied, as they exchanged a dark look. "Do you think they're actually here?" she asked, as they slid down the dune and towards the sea. She was quite on the fence with Will, not having forgotten his impulsive and reckless decision making on the Isla Cruces. She was going to have some serious words with him, before the Kraken attacked.

"Me mind hasn't decided yet," Jack replied, as he grabbed a line and swung down. "Just follow my lead." Charlotte nodded and followed suit.

The crew continued to stare in disbelief. It was amazing that for a man with such terrible luck, Jack also had the most fortune of all.

"Impossible," Tai Huang whispered, as the Pearl re-entered the sea once more. He watched as the hundreds of thousands of crabs flew into the sea as well.

"Boat," Pintel said, pointing at the Pearl.

"Slap me thrice and hand me to me momma, its Jack!" Gibbs cried, looking at the small longboat heading back towards the shore.

"It's the captain!" Pintel said, running towards Jack with excitement. He was their ticket out of there after all.

"A sight for sore eyes! Jack!" Gibbs yelled running up to the pair as they stepped out of the boat.

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack ordered. Charlotte smiled politely at Gibbs, her eyes glazed over slightly. There was no way they were actually here. Finally, she'd entered a delusion of her own.

"Aye Captain!" Gibbs replied, unsure if Jack was out of his mind.

"I thought so," Jack said, turning to Charlotte and giving her a smile, as he faced Gibbs once more. "I expect you can account for your actions, then?" Jack demanded.

"Sir?" Gibbs asked tentatively.

"There has been a perpetual and virulent lack of discipline aboard my vessel! What is that, sir?" Jack yelled. Charlotte remained stony-faced, ignoring the inquisitive looks she received from Elizabeth and Will.

"You're in Davy Jones's Locker, Captain" Gibbs replied, staring at his Captain, perplexed.

Jack nodded, "I know that. I know where I am, and don't think I don't!" he snapped.

"Jack Sparrow," Barboss said from behind Jack.

Jack turned on his heel. "Ah, Hector! Its been too long, hasn't it?"

Barbossa bared his teeth it was was supposed to be a smile. "Aye, Isla de Muerta? You shot me," he stated, as Jack shook his head.

"No I didn't," Jack replied, before spotting Tia standing behind Barbossa. "Ah, Tia Dalma, out and about eh?" he asked, stumbling towards her.

She grinned back, happy to see him after all this time. "You lend an agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium," he added, as Tia's smile slipped from her face. She was tempted to smack him out of his delusion, but her thoughts were interrupted by Will.

"He thinks we're a hallucination," Will stated, peering at Jack's face.

Jack turned to Will, torn between a desire to stab him or strangle him for his traitorous behaviour. "William, tell me something," Jack asked, walking towards him. "Have you come back because you need my help to rescue a certain distressing damsel? Or rather, damsel in distress? Either one?" Jack supplied.

"No," Will admitted, confused.

"Then you wouldn't be here. So you can't be here. Q. E. D., you're not really here," he responded angrily.

The others couldn't help but agree with Jack. It was abnormal for Will to come to the others for help unless it had something to do with Elizabeth, which it usually did.

"Jack," Elizabeth piped up from behind Will. "This is real, we're here."

Jack peered at the others, unsure of what to say, before scuttling back to Charlotte, who leaned in. "The locker you say?"

"Yes," Charlotte whispered. Till now, she had assumed that they weren't here at all, and her mind had finally succumbed to the twisted realities presented in the Locker. But, as she stared at those in front of her, she was beginning to change her mind.

"We've come to rescue you both," Elizabeth added, walking towards them. Charlotte and Jack backed up slightly, still unsure.

Jack's eye glinted and Charlotte knew that he'd come to the same realization she had. They were the one with the ship. "Have you now?" Charlotte asked.

"That's very kind of you. But seeing as I possess a ship and you don't, it seems as though you're the ones in need of rescuing and I'm not sure as I'm in the mood," Jack replied icily. He wasn't about to let the few people who had stabbed him in the back several times back onto his ship.

From behind Will and Elizabeth, Barbossa laughed. "I see my ship, right over there" he stated, pointing to the Pearl, which floated serenely nearby.

Jack turned on his heel and made a show of squinting at the water. "Can't spot it. Must be a tiny little thing hiding somewhere behind the Pearl."

Will had grown tired of the bickering and uncertainty. He wanted to get out of the Locker as soon as possible. "Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones. He controls the Flying Dutchman."

"He's taking over the sea," Elizabeth added, knowing that Jack's first love was the sea.

Charlotte turned slowly towards Will. "You do realize this whole thing started with you making a deal with my brother, right?" she asked. The others backed away slowly as she advanced on Will. "I have absolutely no trust in anything you say. For all I know, you helped put the heart in his hands in the first place. You deserve to stay here."

Tia Dalma placed a hand on Charlotte's shoulder, attempting to calm the woman down slightly. "The song has already been sung. The Brethren Court is called," she looked pointedly at Jack.

"Leave you people alone for a moment and look what's happened? Everything's gone to pot," Jack replied.

Gibbs moved towards Jack slowly, not wanting to startle the captain. "Aye Jack, the world need's you two back something fierce."

"And you need a crew," Will added.

Charlotte actively ignored Will, while Jack nodded. "That is true, but I only need a few men. Six or seven at the least. I've got Charlotte. Elizabeth you may come. I don't feel that your transgressions are as numerous as your..." he gestured to Will, who stared at Jack in anger. Jack turned to Tia. "Tia..." he said, as she smiled at him. "Fair enough, you're in." He looked at the lineup of pirates and started down them. "Don't need you," he said to Ragetti. "You scare me," he added, looking at Pintel. "Gibbs, you can come. Marty. Cotton. Cotton's parrot, I'm a little iffy, but at least I'll have someone to talk to. He turned to Tai Huang. "And who are you?"

"Tai Huang," he responded. "And these are my men," he added, nodding at the several men behind him.

"Where do your alliegences lie?" Charlotte asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"With the highest bidder," he answered with a grin.

"I have a ship," Jack supplied.

"That makes you the highest bidder," Huang replied, nodding to his men, who joined him alongside Jack's party.

Jack turned to Charlotte, "Good man," he stated. "Weigh anchor, all hands, prepare to make sail!" Jack ordered, as he withdrew his compass. The needle spun wildly, and he quickly passed it to Charlotte.

Just then, Barbossa coughed. The pair turned to look at him. Clutched in his hands was a set of wooden maps. Jack the Monkey squealed as he clambered onto Barbossa's shoulder. "Jack... Which way ya goin', Jack?" he asked.

Charlotte scoffed, "After everything you put us through, you think we're going to let you back on our ship?"

Barbossa turned to her. "Ah, Miss Vaughan. Pleasure as always. But you seem to have forgotten something. Yer in the Locker. And there's only one set of maps to help you find your way out." He tapped his nails on the maps as he cocked his head towards Jack.

Jack looked positively repulsed at the idea of letting Barbossa back on his ship. "Fine," he sighed, as Barbossa led Will and the others onto the Pearl as well.

Charlotte and Jack led the group onto the ship. "Do you actually trust them?" she asked, jerking her head towards Will and Barbossa.

"Not in the slightest. We'll have to keep a close eye on the mutinous scum and his backstabbing right hand," Jack replied, looking straight ahead. It was going to be a long voyage.


	52. Chapter 53

The moment they boarded the ship, Jack and Barbossa were at war. The pair ordered the crew around, and Charlotte made sure that she only did as Jack directed, to prove her loyalty and legitimize him as the Pearl's rightful captain. This was proving quite difficult as Jack repeated everything Barbossa said two seconds later, and with slightly less authority. She groaned inwardly as Barbossa trudged around the deck, barking like mad.

"Trim that sail!" he yelled.

"Trim that sail," Jack repeated, keeping one eye on Barbossa, and the other on his crew.

"Slack windward brace and sheets!" Barbossa cried, looking at Jack from over his shoulder.

"Slack windward brace and sheets," Jack repeated, deafening Marty, who chose that moment to walk by. Charlotte stopped him and the pair, along with Elizabeth, Gibbs and Cotton watched the two men contest one another.

"Haul that pallet line!" Barbossa ordered.

Jack wandered around Barbossa, "Haul that pallet line!" he repeated.

Barbossa, who had managed to ignore Jack until now, whipped around. "What _are_ you doing?" he growled.

"What are you doing?" Jack retorted, standing his ground, and looking Barbossa in the eye. Charlotte could see his hands itching at his side, ready to fire another shot in the pirate's heart.

"No, what _are_ you doing?" Barbossa repeated, straining the "are" once more.

"What are YOU doing," Jack replied, stressing the wrong word. He looked at Barbossa, genuinely confused.

"No what _are_ you doing?" Barbossa repeated.

Jack squinted. "What are YOU doing? Captain gives orders on the ship!" he added, winking at Charlotte, who was standing behind Barbossa, hands on the Pearl's wheel.

"The captain of this ship is giving orders," Barbossa replied smugly.

"My, ship, makes me Captain," Jack stated, puffing out his chest. His triangular hat sat prominently on his head, looking far more authoritative than Barbossa' feather-topped one.

"They be my charts," Barbossa yelled, pointing to the map which lay on the table behind the wheel, where Will was currently reading (and also guarding) them.

"That makes you ..." Jack's voice faltered slightly, as she searched for the right words."Chart man!" he argued.

From off to the side, Pintel had had enough. "Stow it! The both of you! Now that's an order! Understand?" The pair turned to Pintel, looking at him warily. Pintel reddened, "Sorry," he stammered. "I just thought with the captain uses being in doubt, I'd throw my name in for consideration, sorry." He backed away until he was standing next to Pintel.

The two pirates shook their heads and continued to argue as they headed towards the wheel.

"I'd vote for ya," Ragetti muttered, looking down at Pintel.

"Yeah?" Pintel asked, smiling slightly as they shuffled off to help the rest of the crew.

At the wheel, the two pirates were continuing to bicker. Barbossa pulled out his spyglass and aimed it towards the front of the boat. Jack quickly pulled his spyglass off of his belt and opened it as well, but upon realizing it was a miniature version, he quickly chucked it onto the ship's floor, where it landed with a loud thump. Barbossa grinned, as he turned back to his spyglass.

He waited a few moments, before turning back to the wheel, which was currently being helmed by Charlotte. Jack stood beside her, the map in hand. Will had abandoned it after spotting Elizabeth heading belowdecks.

"Ah, Miss Vaughan," he said in what was supposed to be a polite and unthreatening voice. "Ye might want to put that wheel in the hands of the Captain."

Charlotte scoffed, and turned to face Barbossa, her left hand on the wheel, freeing her right. "As much as I appreciate your suggestion, I don't think that's what I want to do," she replied with a smirk.

Barbossa grinned, "Still as witty as before, eh?" he asked, moving closer.

Charlotte stood her ground, her hand resting on her pistol. "One step closer, and I will shoot you. Is that clear?"

Barbossa took a step backwards, his hands raised in surrender. "So, you've joined the ranks of pirates now, eh?" he asked, attempting to start a conversation with her, to get on her good side. "Last I remember ye didn't think too fondly of us."

"I still don't think fondly of you," she replied icily, pulling down the collar of her shirt to show a thin line across her neck. "Your work, remember?" she asked, staring him down.

Barbossa nodded, "Twas necessary at the time, lass." Barbossa continued to stare at her, until she snapped once more.

"What do you want?" she finally yelled, causing Gibbs, who was dozing off a few feet away, to jump.

Barbossa shook his head at her. "We are very much alike, Miss Vaughan," he stated after a moment.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "I beg to know how you reached that ridiculous conclusion." she felt Jack slip a protective arm around her waist, in case she decided to beat Barbossa to death with her bare hands.

Barbossa drew closer, forcing Charlotte to pull out her pistol, and aim it at Barbossa's heart. Her gun was lined up with the small bullet hole shaped rip in his jacket, where Jack had shot him years earlier. "Power. You want power, Miss Vaughan," Barbossa explained. "And you won't rest until you have the world at your feet. You and your brother have that in common."

Charlotte could feel her anger towards the man coursing through her body, and she fired one shot, a few millimetres to the right of Barbossa's head. Jack's arm tightened as she was pulled away from Barbossa slightly. A few thin feathers fluttered off and landed on the deck by her feet. "Don't you dare compare me to him. And don't even think about giving another order on this ship. The Pearl is Jack's and if you do not understand that, I will blow your head off straight to the Hell from which you came. Is that understood?"

Barbossa remained tight-lipped, nodding only. He watched as Charlotte turned to Jack, tucking her pistol away. "I'm fine," she whispered, forcing Jack to release his hold on her. Barbossa watched as Jack's hand moved away from her and fell at his side. He spotted a new ring on Jack's finger. A gold band with a black pearl set in its centre. S Charlotte pushed past him, he spotted the same Pearl's on her ears, and he grinned.

Jack watched as Charlotte headed belowdecks as well, clearly worn out from the days events. He moved to the wheel, leaving the maps on the table behind him.

Barbossa stepped towards Jack, whose mind had wandered a million miles away. "She's different, aye?" he asked. Jack, who'd been completely zoned out, jumped slightly, before nodding. "I never thought I'd see the day when Captain Jack Sparrow found himself a lass," Barbossa continued. "I thought the sea was your first love, eh?"

Jack nodded, "It still is," he replied, although his voice shook slightly when he said it. He continued to stare out at the horizon, which had steadily grown darker, threatening to plunge them into darkness.

"You don't seem so sure of that," Barbossa replied. Jack tried to ignore the older man, but found himself listening. "I couldn't help but spot those beautiful pearls on Miss Vaughan's ears ... shame you haven't given her the ring to match," he added.

Jack turned to Barbossa. "What is your point here Hector? Because I am trying to Captain my ship, which requires some focus. Of course, you wouldn't know, being chart man and everything."

Barbossa could tell Jack's heart wasn't really in his ripping of his character, and so, he backed away, letting the young man come to the conclusion on his own.

Pintel and Ragetti sat at the bow of the Pearl, fishing rods in hand, staring at the water below. Ragetti peered down at the water, before yelping, and jumping to his feet, dropping the fishing pole. The pair looked over the side of the ship and watched as several bodies, all floating face upwards, moved past them.

"Eerie...that's downright macabre," Pintel muttered.

"Wonder what would happen if you dropped a cannon ball on one of 'em," Ragetti mused.

The pair exchanged mischievous looks before heading belowdecks. They spotted a collection of cannon balls and picked one each, lugging them to the deck once more. The pair were laughing, unaware that Tia was standing at the bow of the ship, fiddling with a locket in her hands. She turned to them both, and the pair dropped their balls, which landed with a dull thud on the deck, before rolling every which way.

"Be disrespectful, it would," Pintel whispered from the corner of his mouth.

Tia looked positively angry, her eyes welling up with tears. "They should be in the care of Davy Jones," she said through gritted teeth. "That was the duty him was charged with by the goddess, Calypso. To ferry them who died to the other side. And every ten years, he could come ashore to be with she who love him... truly." She turned back to the sea, "but the man has become a monster."

"So he wasn't always..."tentacly?" Pintel asked, his hand at his chin, fingers mimicking Jones's beard.

She turned back to Pintel. "No, him was a man...once," Tia explained with a sigh.

Ragetti pointed back to the sea, "Now it's boats coming."

The rest of the crew, including Will, Elizabeth and Charlotte who'd disappeared below earlier on in the day, joined the trio at the railing.

Gibbs ran to the rails and began to load his gun, preparing for the worst this ghastly place had to offer, but was stopped by Will. "They're not a threat to us, are they?" he asked Tia, who stood on Gibbs' other side.

"We are nothing but ghosts to them," Tia replied sadly.

"It's best just let them be," Barbossa said, coming to stop next to Charlotte. The pair exchanged a look, Charlotte silently letting him know that she had forgiven him for stepping over the line earlier that day. She felt Jack slip his hand in hers and give it a comforting squeeze. She gently placed her head on his shoulder and watched as the figures passed them by.

As Elizabeth approached the rail, she spotted a figure, sitting upright in a boat, the lantern placed in front of him illuminated his recognizable face. Elizabeth's face lit up, "It's my father! We've made it back!" she grinned, turning to Charlotte with excitement. She turned back to the small boat. "Father! FATHER! HERE! LOOK HERE!" she cried, thumping her hand on the Pearl's wooden railing. Her father sat unmoving.

"Elizabeth," Jack said, leaving Charlotte and coming around to speak to her. "Elizabeth, we're not back," he whispered.

Elizabeth turned to look at him, the excitement vanishing off of her face. Will and Jack exchanged a look and Will turned to reach past Barbossa, to Elizabeth, who quickly moved away.

"FATHER!" She screamed.

Governor Swann's head jerked slightly and his eyes wandered around, searching the space in front of him.

"FATHER!" Elizabeth cried once more.

Swann turned to face her, "Elizabeth? Are you dead?" he asked, looking at her with worry.

Charlotte moved away from the rail, ready to help Elizabeth get her father aboard. She spotted a long length of rope, coiled at the mast, and ran to get it.

"No," Elizabeth replied, shaking her head.

"I think I am," Swann replied lightly, a look of confusing dawning on his face.

"No, you can't be!" Elizabeth replied, not wanting to believe anything she was hearing.

Pintel and Ragetti exchanged sad looks, as they and the rest of the crew watched the exchange between the father and his daughter.

"There was this chest, you see" Swann explained. Will's face tightened slightly as Swann spoke. "It's odd. At the time it seemed so important."

"Come aboard," Elizabeth yelled.

"And a heart," Swann continued. "I learned that if you stab the heart yours must take its place. Sail the seas for eternity." Both Jack and Will's interests were piqued as he spoke. Will didn't spot her, but Tia wandered around and stopped beside Will, staring at him. The Dutchman must always have a Captain... silly thing to die for."

"Someone, cast a line! Come back with us!" Elizabeth yelled. Charlotte, who had the rope in hand, tossed it over the edge of the ship, and watched as it landed in Swann's boat. Elizabeth grabbed the line from her.

"A touch of destiny," Tia whispered, as Will turned to face her, confused.

"Take the line!" Elizabeth yelled.

"I'm so proud of you Elizabeth," Swann said, staring at her with pride.

"Father the line! Take the line!" Elizabeth screamed, shaking the rope furiously as tears streamed down her face. She watched in horror as her father's boat continued to sail forward, the end of the rope sliding across his hands and out of his reach.

Elizabeth dropped it and began to run to the stern of the ship, screaming for her father.

"She must not leave the ship!" Tia ordered. The rest of the cremates, led by Will and Charlotte ran towards Elizabeth, who was ready to climb over the edge of the rail.

"I give your love to your mother, shall I?" he offered, facing forward and moving along with the rest of the ships.

"Father! Please come back with us! I won't leave you!" she screamed, as Will grabbed her from the rail.

"Elizabeth" he said, pulling her into himself. He rubbed her back and turned to Tia. "Is there a way?" he pleaded.

Tia shook her head slowly. "No, him at peace now," she replied, looking at Elizabeth, whose body was wracked with sobs.

Charlotte approached her tentatively and rubbed her back, trying to calm her grieving friend. She felt Elizabeth's body stop shaking, and her breathing calm down. Nodding at Will, she backed away, into Jack's arms, and he led her down into the captain's quarters leaving Will to console Elizabeth.


	53. Author's Note

So, this isn't a chapter, it's just an author's note.

I know I said I was going to update soon, but I haven't had a spare moment. So much has been going on. Since March, my university has been on strike and I have been studying non-stop for the LSAT's this June. But my score isn't where I want it to be, so I've pushed my test date to September. My classes at uni have all been halted, and I haven't the slightest idea when they're going to pick back up again. I'm in my third year now, and I need my GPA (which I've worked very hard to maintain) to stay where it is, or increase. Whenever my classes resume, I'm going to be hit with assignments, tests and exams.

I'm so sorry to leave you guys hanging, but this is something that I've got to do if I wanna get where I want to be in the future. Hopefully you understand, and to anyone who's writing this test: good luck!


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